Despite adopting different measures to streamline the service of city buses here, the Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC) is struggling hard to regularise the buses frequency at the defined routes in a full-fledged way without any hiccup. Unable to rope in competent bidders for operation and maintenance (O&M) of city buses, since quite some time now, the Municipal Corporation has decided to operate the city buses without engaging any agency for a specific period.
Notably, even after easing the clauses, no agency having experience in handling city buses operation has so far shown interest in Municipal Corporation’s proposal as a result the operation of city buses has come almost to a standstill. The RMC had terminated the previous bus operators for violating the clauses.
“On a daily wage system, the Civic Body has decided to run the service of city buses for a few months. Later, a tender regarding the city buses O&M will be floated. During the last meeting with the bus operators, few old city buses will be managed by the previous bus operators for some time until some necessary arrangements are not done to regularise its operation,” said RMC City Manager and Transportation Cell In-charge, Saurabh Kumar Verma.
However, several temporary arrangements made in the past few months could not improve the status of city bus operation keeping its frequency immensely low at the four selected routes. Also, according to the RMC City Manager, at present, the focus is on managing the operation of 26 new city buses purchased recently.
Meanwhile, the previous bus operators have blamed the laidback approach of RMC as a major stumbling block in managing the operation of city buses. The bus operators have stated that undefined bus stoppages at the selected four routes, lack of facilities like garage or proper space for parking city buses including the stringent clauses over the issue of operating both old and new city buses simultaneously by the hired agency are a few prime reasons that are creating hurdle and compelling the agencies to stay away from taking the charge of city buses operation and maintenance.
With an aim to analyse the demands and agreement rules of the bus operators, a dedicated committee was also constituted.
Additional Municipal Commissioner (AMC), Girija Shankar in November 2018 had conducted a meeting with the bus operators considering the facts, agreement clauses including various demands of city bus operators. During the meeting, Kishore Mantri who is at present looking after the operation of 25 old city buses had raised the increment of bus fare issue in the wake of rising petrol and diesel prices.
Currently, city buses ply on four routes -ITI bus stand and Dhurwa and between Kanke and Tupudana covering Harmu road. The Municipal Corporation in December 2016 had purchased 26 more new city buses from TATA Motors to add on to the existing fleet of old buses. At present, the Municipal Corporation has around 91 city buses for ferrying daily commuters out which merely 20 or even less number of buses ply on different routes.
