KOCHI: On October 27, a low-floor bus of the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) caught fire after it left Ernakulam depot for Thodupuzha. While KSRTC authorities cited “short circuit” as the cause of the blaze, blame for the vehicle’s “poor maintenance” was also being bandied around.
Of late, there has been an increase in KSRTC buses developing technical snags, especially after the corporation was forced to shelve plans to procure 370 new buses due to paucity of funds, and instead focus on repairing buses lying abandoned in its garages and deploying them on short-haul and town-to-town routes.
Moreover, with the start of Sabarimala season, good-condition buses have been deployed for Pampa services and replaced by the ‘old’ fleet on other routes.
“A fast passenger has made way for an ordinary service during the morning peak hour on the Ernakulam-Thodupuzha section. There have been multiple instances of running buses developing glitches on the route.
On one such journey earlier in the week, the crew had warned us the bus was not in proper condition and, as if on cue, it suffered a breakdown when the vehicle reached KEL Mamala. Being peak hour, all subsequent buses were running at full capacity and we were forced to hire an Uber to reach Muvattupuzha,” said Durga K S, a health professional and regular commuter.
On Saturday morning, a KSRTC low-floor bus plying the Ernakulam-Kayamkulam route developed a snag just before it reached Kundannoor flyover.
According to sources, such incidents are on the rise because the corporation has been forced to deploy old buses. And the acute shortage of mechanics means the vehicles are not being maintained on a daily basis.
“As of now there are only 650 buses idling in garages across the state, a sharp drop from 1,300 a couple of months back,” a senior works manager said.
Experts have called for an emergency provision for the purchase of new buses. The state government had initially promised `92 crore for new buses, but the figure was later reduced to `46 crore.
“The corporation buys nearly 300 buses around September-October every year. But this year, its plans have been hit by the paucity of funds. Also, buses in the current fleet are being overused, resulting in issues like overheating. So the way forward is the procurement of new buses and the proper maintenance of the fleet,” said Dijo Kappen, transportation expert and chairman of State Public Transport Protection Committee.