‘2015 blaze still causing losses to transport dept’

17 LOWFLOOR AC BUSES WERE GUTTED IN A FIRE AT DTC’S AMBEDKAR NAGAR BUS DEPOT

NEW DELHI: The Delhi government’s transport department has been unable to recover from losses that were caused by a fire that gutted 17 of its low-floor airconditioned buses on New Year’s Eve in 2015, according to the latest report of the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India.

The CAG report said that due to the shortage of the 17 buses lost in the fire, the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) has been suffering a loss of contribution worth ₹1.13 crore every year, and the total loss of ₹2.82 crore as of June 2017.

The CAG pointed out that “due to inadequacy in contract management and delayed action by the management, the DTC could not recover from the losses of 17 burnt buses...”

A total of 17 air-conditioned, low-floor buses were gutted after a massive fire broke out at DTC’S Ambedkar Nagar depot in the early hours of January 1, 2015.

The CAG also highlighted that by not ensuring insurance cover for 2,682 DTC buses supplied by Tata Motors between 2007 and 2011, the government had pro- vided undue benefits to the vehicle manufacturer.

The 17 buses that caught fire at the depots were a part of these 2,682 buses and, as per contract, the responsibility of the annual maintenance of buses, till it crosses 7.50 lakh kilometres, lies with the manufacturer.

The CAG report said that the DTC failed to ensure that these buses were insured by Tata Motors and also did not recover losses from them.

The CAG also said that the issue had been referred to the government in July 2017, and a response was awaited till January 2018.

A report released in 2016 by the Union ministry of road transport and highways on the performance of state road transport units put DTC as the biggest loss-making unit among such utilities in India. Stats show that the DTC spends ₹39,129 per day on running a bus, and ends up recovering only ₹6,016 from it.