Sunday, May 02, 2004
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Advts: Classifieds | Employment | New Delhi
By Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar
NEW DELHI, MAY 1. The Delhi Government's inability to take a quick decision on fleet upgradation in the Delhi Transport Corporation due to the "model code of conduct'' now in force because of the Lok Sabha elections has made travel on the DTC buses on the inter-State routes very dangerous as every now and then these buses running on old tyres either break down or worse, experience tyre blasts. A senior official of DTC said here today that though most of the DTC buses on the inter-state route now require replacement as they are over five years old and have covered over 5 lakh kilometres, the Delhi Government has been dithering on the proposal due to both financial constraints and the fact that it is considering implementing the report of Tata Consultancy Services on restructuring of the Corporation and so routine replacement of vehicles has been slowed down. However, with the elections further preventing the government from reaching to a decision, the commuters on the inter-state routes have been put to a great risk. The worn out tyres on most of the buses are leading to frequent incidents of tyre bursts and with the buses travelling at high speeds on the highways they are putting the passengers in grave peril. Even today a bus plying between Delhi and Hapur on National Highway 24 suffered a tyre blast and nearly escaped being hit from behind by another speeding vehicles. The DTC officials said these incidents are taking place due to the inability of the Corporation to address the issue on its own. "We are dependent on the Delhi Government for the funding and this holds back the work in several key areas. The Government has its own priorities - especially as it is now also having to finance the power sector a great deal. But it should be more appreciable about the needs of the Corporation as here the lives of people are at stake.'' Another senior DTC official said the problem with inter-state buses is a new one. "Earlier, mostly new diesel buses were put on these routes so that the incidence of accidents and breakdowns remained low. But after the introduction of buses running on compressed natural gas (CNG), the equation changed as all the old diesel buses were put on the inter-state circuit while the new CNG vehicles were introduced on the city routes.'' Due to a paucity of funds, the DTC has also been compelled to undertake reconditioning of vehicles and has in the recent past completely overhauled 108 buses. However, with an aging fleet, its problems are also increasing by the day. "Though we have been placing orders for tyres on a regular basis, a labour problem in one of the MRF plants led to a delay in receipt of a consignment of tyres.'' The DTC officials say though orders for thousands of tyres have been placed with various tyre companies such as JK Tyres and MRF, there is often a gap between the time the need arises and its fulfilment.
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