Pandemic sets back Delhi bus fleet expansion plans
NEW DELHI: The Delhi government’s ambitious project to strengthen the Capital’s public transport system by adding a new bus fleet has been hit by the nationwide lockdown imposed to contain the spread of Covid-19.
Senior government officials on Thursday said the complete procurement and arrival of more than 2,800 buses will be delayed by almost a year owing to lockdown-induced revenue shortfall and limitations in manufacturing.
The demand for more buses assumes much more importance now as the 2,000 buses presently plying are allowed to carry only 20 passengers each due to social distancing norms against the usual capacity of 40. The average daily ridership of Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) during pre-Covid times was around four million.
The Delhi government had on July 11 last year announced its final procurement plan for 4,000 buses -- all of which should have arrived maximum by this month, according to the schedule shared by the authorities at that time.
Ten months later, only 1,150 buses, including 1,000 non-AC standard-floor and 150 AC lowfloor buses, are plying on Delhi’s roads.
According to senior officials, the lockdown has affected the government’s procurement plan so badly that the cash-strapped DTC has sought permission from the finance department to utilise funds, meant for procuring 1,000 AC low-floor buses and amounting to ₹325.5 crore, to pay salaries to its employees in the coming months if its financial situation does not improve.
The main components of DTC’s operating cost are wages and salaries, accounting for around 60%, fuel (CNG), which accounts for nearly 20%, and annual maintenance (nearly 10%).
With public transport shut for more than 50 days and schools closed, the DTC is losing more than ₹2 crore every day in revenue from bus journeys.
To immediately foot the bills for salaries, pensions, statutory and other liabilities, the DTC utilised ₹512.50 crore, which the Delhi government disbursed to the corporation as grant-in-aid for the first quarter of 2020-21.
According to the Delhi economic survey 2018-19, the working losses of DTC were as high as ₹1,750.37 crore.
Transport minister Kailash Gahlot said the government’s procurement schedule of the 1,000 DTC buses, 1,000 electric buses and 1,000 low-floor CNG buses could now take one full year to be completed. He said in the best-case scenario, a first batch (100 or so) of the remaining 2,850 buses could arrive only by the end of this year.
“The delay will not just be because of the financial constraints we are facing at the moment, but also because of problems faced by bus manufacturers owning to the lockdown. Thankfully, we at least received all of the 1,000 CNG standardfloor buses before the lockdown began on March 25,” Gahlot said.
A fresh tender for 1,000 electric buses also could be floated not before July, officials said.
As part of its other package of 1,000 low-floor CNG buses, the government were to receive nearly 100 AC low-floor buses from JBM Auto Ltd. in April. But they could not arrive because the lockdown got extended.
“Even though the restrictions have been relaxed , these buses, even if they arrive in Delhi, cannot be used because they are BS-4 vehicles and could not be registered by April 30, the deadline set by Supreme Court for the registration of BS-4 vehicles,” said a senior transport department official.
Bus manufacturer JBM Auto Limited said it is awaiting directions from the government with regard to the registration of BS-4 buses that was delayed due to the lockdown, so that their buses can be put to use.
“The company re-opened its plant in Kosi only a week ago and that it is facing shortage of manpower. We are working only on one shift as there is very limited manpower. Many of our workers are in their home towns. Only maintenance work is being carried out as of now. A few people have been issued passes in our plant by the UP government to comply with the Covid-19 guidelines,” said Nishant Arya, Executive Director, JBM Group.
Government officials said restrictions in the number of passengers in public transport will continue till things normalise. Delhi Metro, which carries around 2.7 million passengers daily, is also shut, putting extra load on DTC.
Anumita Roychowdhury, Executive Director, Centre for Science and Environment, said the government should take this period as a learning.
“Social distancing rules have given an opportunity to explore ways of decongesting public transport for the future. Even when the Metro opens, it would not suffice because of the new rules. So, the government must use whatever resources are available. Hiring private buses immediately is need of the hour,” she said.
One reason for not being able to run the remaining buses is that the drivers and conductors who live in NCR cities such as Noida, Gurugram, Ghaziabad or Faridabad are facing issues in reaching the depots due to border restrictions by UP and Haryana.