As many as 1,000 public transport buses in Delhi may be taken off the roads in 10 days if the Transport Department does not extend their contract.
The Cluster Bus Services, which operate on compressed natural gas (CNG), are at risk as a 10-year agreement between the department and a private bus manufacturing company is set to expire on June 19, IE reported.
The Delhi government has planned to replace these CNG buses with electric buses. However, the transition has been delayed due to several issues, including the lack of electrification of depots, non-allotment of depots, non-approval of prototypes, and delayed production by operators, the report further stated.
Senior transport department officials are against extending the bus contract, but the transport minister urges continue operation of buses until ‘alternative arrangements’ are made. According to an Indian Express report, Internal communications between the department and the minister reveal that officials oppose the contract extension because the buses lack ‘quantity’ and ‘quality’ and are in poor condition. They also stated “the concessionaires are rather trying to draw the government into unnecessary legal controversies”.
In a note dated on June 4, the officials further said, the induction of electric buses has been delayed in absence of electrification of depots and non-allotment of depots along with non-approval of prototype and late production by the operators. As a result transport officials concluded: “Some gap may be there in withdrawal of these CNG buses and the induction of e-buses.”
Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot, however, has asked the department “not to phase out the buses” without any “alternate arrangements” to avoid inconvenience to commuters.
If the department decides to phase them out, these buses will cease operations from 20 June. “The Government has been making all-out efforts to increase the number of buses with the twin objective, firstly, to increase the commuters’ convenience and secondly, encourage people to move… to public transport,” Gahlot responded in a note to Transport Commissioner Prashant Goyal.
Documents indicate that 997 buses are currently running on 109 routes.“…Shortage of buses compounded by hot weather will force the public to turn towards private transport,” Gahlot said. In response to the delays in depot electrification, the minister highlighted that financial approval for electrifying many depots is still pending.“It takes about 12 to 18 months for the completion of the electrification of a depot. In such a situation, many depots will remain unutilised. However, the department has neither commented upon this issue nor suggested any alternative course of action,” Gahlot stated, requesting the department to provide this information immediately.
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Sources reported that three cluster depots have already been closed, with seven more set to shut down next week. Bus drivers and conductors hired by the concessionaire are protesting at all depots against the closures and the phasing out of buses.
However, the transport department noted several ‘shortcomings/service lapses’ by concessionaires, including lost kilometres due to driver strikes, failure to adhere to timetables, missing bus stops, dirty buses, speeding, and rash driving. Another official said: “In DTC (Delhi Transport Corporation), buses are phased out after completion of 15 years of operation… Concession Agreements were earlier extended in public interest.”
The official mentioned that clusters were also in arbitration with the department over similar issues, with additional conditions imposed to minimize costs to the public and protect the department’s interests.
Despite a request from concessionaires for contract extension due to late bus induction, the department dismissed the claims as baseless. Recently, 600 old cluster buses were phased out.