It was only one month ago city bus service in Ranchi extended its reach to the Kanke-Tupudana route. This proved to be a much applauded achievement on part of public transportation system in the city. However this could not bring the transit service out of dire straits.
Around 50 city buses were to be brought from Jamshedpur and another 65 from Dhanbad, to add to the number of vehicles under Ranchi city bus service. But, these plans can no longer be executed.
“Initially, we intended to bring in city buses which remained unused in Jamshedpur and Dhanbad. But recently city bus services started in Jamshedpur, and thus we will not be able to bring in any buses from there,” stated Urban Development Director Shashi Ranjan Prasad Singh.
About bringing in buses from Dhanbad, the UD Director stated that there has been no development in this regard, as of yet.
“Number of city buses running on the streets of the capital are only a fraction of that should have been,” said Kishore Mantri, proprietor of Kishore Mantri Travels, the firm which is managing the city bus service in Ranchi.
“The buses which were to come from other districts are yet to arrive. We were hopeful that they will share the load of 40-45 buses running on the streets. As opposed to this number, in a city like Ranchi, we need around 200 to 225 buses in order to run a proper city bus service that covers the entire city,” Mantri said.
He further added, “We have made the number of buses required known to Ranchi Municipal Corporation in writing, but are yet to get a response.”
The city bus service in Ranchi has always been erratic since its inception, all due to shortage of buses. It began with 70 vehicles, out of which, one was lost to fire and the rest turned frail without use.
With only 20 buses left in working condition under the city bus service in Ranchi, these rundown vehicles were then sent for repair and spent a long time there due to unavailability of spare parts.
“We have asked for spaces to be allowed near two major railway stations of the city – Argora and Hatia – long back, but have not received any word on them. With this and shortage of buses, we cannot fulfill our aim of providing an economical means of transport to the denizens of Ranchi,” Mantri stated.