CHENNAI: Over 5,000 government buses, of eight State transport corporations, haven’t been used since the lockdown, apparently due to the soaring fuel prices. Though the government denied it, official data from the department show diesel consumption plummeted by 31 per cent, suggesting more than 5,000 buses are off the roads. Officially, the fleet strength of the eight corporations is 19,500, and their per-day losses have risen from Rs 12.92 crore to Rs 18.08 crore.
On March 1 last year, the per-litre diesel price was Rs 68.32. On Monday, it was Rs 84.44. Data show that presently, Rs 9.36 crore is spent on diesel for government buses per day, while it used to be Rs 11.02 crore before the lockdown. Going by these expenses, government buses consume 11.08 lakh litres of fuel per day, as against 16.1 lakh in March last year. The reduction of 5.02 lakh litres suggests 30-35 per cent of the fleet — which is roughly 5,000 buses — has been cancelled.
Fuel costs accounted for 35 per cent of the expenses last year, and the share has now increased to 53 per cent, said Transport Secretary C Samayamoorthy. “We resumed services from wherever requests were received. Of the 19,500 buses, 17,000 are now operational. Among the rest, 700 are air conditioned, and we don’t have permission to ply them yet,” Samayamoorthy further said, adding that a portion of the additional expenses borne by the corporations owing to the high fuel prices will be reimbursed by the government.
However, official data show the patronage for government buses gradually eroded and then plummeted. The reasons cited range from shortage of workers to worn-out buses and high fuel expenses. Another reason is the increase in the number of two-wheelers. Until January 2018, the eight transport corporations carried over 2.1 crore passengers per day. With the reduction of fleet capacity, the patronage plunged to 1.14 crore in March last year. Currently, the patronage stands at 75 lakh per day, which is 37.5 per cent of what it used to be in 2017.
“The patronage may rise as the demand has not yet picked up after the lockdown. We are increasing the number of services based on the demand,” explained Samayamoorthy. Office-bearers of transport trade unions demanded that the government recruit more workers and introduce new buses.