RTC uses scrapped spares for buses
A total of 42 passengers in a Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) bus had a miraculous escape on Wednesday morning when a rear wheel of the bus they were travelling in from Hyderabad to Torrur came off the wheel tub and rolled off.
The driver of the bus managed to bring the vehicle to a halt safely avoiding a possible tragedy. However, the bus got dragged for about 20 metres on its left rear hub before it came to a stop. The accident, involving the bus with registration number TS26Z 0029, occurred near Katepalli village in Yadadri Bhuvanagiri district.
According to several RTC workers, Wednesday morning’s incident was waiting to happen as the corporation was reluctant to purchase new spare parts for the buses.
An RTC employee told this newspaper that the management was not keen on maintenance of buses, especially when it came to purchase new spares for replacing worn out parts, be it for engines, or other moving or static parts of a bus. “We are being forced to cannibalise spares from condemned buses. The officials are unwilling to listen to us when we tell them that this is not a safe practice and could result in accidents,” a TSRTC employee seeking anonymity told this correspondent.
Repeated attempts to contact senior TSRTC officials to check on this issue could not succeed as no
senior official was reachable.
The state-run corporation, which along with several other utilities, suffered losses during the first Covid-19 lockdown, managed to reach daily earnings of around Rs 13
crore after the lockdown was lifted. After the Covid19 second wave lockdown, the revenues again plummeted to zero and have now reached around `7 crore a day. A significant portion of the revenues are being earned by the corporation through its cargo transportation services.
“The top officials are not capable of managing the current crisis in TSRTC due to the lockdowns. They introduced cannibalisation of parts, even for crucial equipment that should never be reused. When the maintenance staff in the workshops point out that this is wrong and can result in dangerous consequences, enormous pressure is being applied on the mechanics,” another TSRTC employee said.
“Whenever an accident occurs, the employees at the lower level are made scapegoats. There is no transparency from the corporation on these issues. The government should intervene in these issues and set this organisation straight,” the employee said.