Even after witnessing continuous stumbling blocks in operation of the city buses, the concerned department is yet to streamline the service of one of the vital modes of transportation here. Notably, regardless of taking the charge of city buses operation and maintenance from Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC) and handling over the charge to the Department of Urban Development, Housing and Planning, the authorities are yet to draft a proper plan for city buses operations.
Since long, the operation of city buses meant to boost the inept urban transportation system is hanging in balance. According to sources, the Department of Urban Development, Housing and Planning had recently approached Jharkhand Urban Transport Corporation Limited (JUTCOL) for technical assistance.
“The responsibility of managing the city buses service will be handled by JUTCOL. The Corporation will soon start the operation of city buses after studying and analyzing different models. Mainly, the Corporation will focus on the frequency of city buses at the defined routes. Some more routes are also likely to be added in the existing route chart to curtail the dominance of other urban transportation modes like auto-rickshaws. Focus will be on operation of new city buses,” said an official of Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (ITDP) on conditions of anonymity.
Notably, even after easing the clauses and continuous re-tendering, no agency having experience in handling city buses operation ever showed interest in Municipal Corporation’s proposal as a result the operation of city buses service came to a standstill. After terminating the city bus operators for violating the clauses, the RMC was managing the operation of city buses through engaging drivers and conductors on a daily basis. However, even this temporary arrangement could not improve the status of city bus operation.
The Municipal Corporation had floated the tender for as many as eight times for roping in competent operators. 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 (Swaraj Mazda). At present, around 91 city buses are there for plying daily commuters. Ironically, merely 20 buses ferry passengers on different routes.