At a time when the city is struggling to beat the summer heat and when AC buses are in dire need, many low-floor AC buses of the KSRTC are in dock for the past one month.
More than 10 buses are lying idle in the KSRTC depot, six of which for want of new tyres, due to the negligence of the KSRTC authorities.
According to AV Francis, Kerala State Transport Workers Union (KSRWU), there is an acute shortage of tyres in the KSRTC sector which causes delay in repair work.
“There is a dearth of tyres as they are in great demand. Though efforts are on to acquire them, the supply of tyres to Ernakulam is low. The tyres of low-floor buses are more difficult to get as they are of a different make. We have been vehemently demanding for the timely supply of tyres,” Francis said. A few low-floor buses are in dock for getting the air-conditioners and the compressors repaired.
“The low-floor buses usually develop problems in summer. More so, as they are three to four years old and compressors breaking down is not an uncommon issue,” the officials said.
However, there are allegations that the delay of the management to pay the bills to the concerned company which repairs the AC is a major reason for the lack of timely maintenance work.
“Since the company which repairs the AC is comparatively a small-time supplier to the Corporation, they cannot afford to delay the bills. Hence, they hesitate to attend to the complaints,” a source close to the management said.
Also the bills to VISTA, the company which rolls out the buses to the Corporation, are overdue. The company also does the heavy maintenance work.
“Much care is required for handling the buses which is most often not the case, which leads to broken windows and side view mirrors. This creates a huge loss for the Corporation,” another source said.
A few months ago, the management had questioned the Ernakulam depot’s mounting expenditure bill.
The management pointed out that in Thiruvanathapuram, the buses were not being subject to daily or monthly repairs.
However, the Ernakulam depot engineer said that unlike in Thiruvananthapuram the low-floor buses here are subject to constant wear and tear owing to heavy traffic congestion on the roads.
Also, the condition of the roads are so bad that the buses have to undergo frequent maintenance.
The cost of repairing a broken front glass pane comes to about `1 lakh. The repair of window panels on the sides incur an expense of Rs 40,000. In some months, the amount for the total repair expenses of the JNNURM buses touch over Rs 6lakh.
Source: New Indian Express
