Jamshedpur : In a move to ensure better transportation facility, Jamshedpur Notified Area Committee ( JNAC) has decided to send the fleet of 50 -buses allotted to Jamshedpur as a part of JNNURM-sponsored city bus service to a local auto workshop for repairing after February 7.
Special officer of Jamshedpur Notified Area Committee ( JNAC) Deepak Sahay said that he will hold a meeting with the deputy commissioner of East Singhbhum Amitabh Kaushal on February 7 . “At the meeting the tender of the four private companies which have shown interest in carrying out the repairing job will be finalised,” said Sahay.�
He went on to add that they have studied the proposals of all the four private firms. ” We will select one among the four,” he said adding that they were unable to proceed further for repairing the buses as not a single party responded to the previous tender.
Meanwhile, in another development the urban development department has given its nod to the civic body for floating another tender for outsourcing the bus service to a private party.
“We do not have the requisite manpower for running the city bus service. Therefore, we had sent a proposal to the state urban development department seeking its nod for outsourcing the bus service to a private agency. The urban development department gave its nod today.
We will soon initiate steps to float another tender to select a suitable agency which can run the bus service without any hassles,” said the senior officer of the urban civic body.
The Jharkhand Tourism Development Corporation ( JTDC) had handed over the city buses to the JNAC in November lat year. Currently , none of the buses are in running condition. The five year permits of several buses out of 50 have expired last month. Those buses will have to pay road tax afresh before hitting the streets.
In Jamshedpur,� the buses stopped plying from mid-October over a provident fund-related dispute between JTDC and City Bus Karamchari Sangh, the employees’ union.
The bus service has been plagued by myriad problems. In the past 24 months, bus drivers and auxiliary staff have ceased work as many as 21 times over non-payment of dues. The last strike was called in January this year over unpaid dues. At present, 20 city bus ferries 10,000-odd passengers along seven routes daily.
�As per our proposals we have also sought permission for use of three lands which can be used as bus stands and workshop for city buses. The land at Sakchi Old Bus Stand and Baridih Bus depot would be used for bus stand while the land at Agrico bus depot would be used as bus workshop,� said an official.
Notably, Jamshedpur was allotted a fleet of 50-odd city buses when the service was launched as part of the JNNURM in August 2010. Out of the 50 city buses allotted only 13 are running on three-four routes while most of these buses remain stranded at the Baridih depot due to lack of maintenance.