Jamshedpur : City buses are still off the roads once again. The buses, part of the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) project, did not ply. Operator Jharkhand Tourism Development Corporation (JTDC) refused to run the 10 buses, alleging that a section of employees are posing a hurdle and has made the corporation insecure.
The corporation also asked for security cover from the district administration. JTDC’s local manager S K Jha, based in the Baridih depot, claimed they were forced to stop the service following employee threats. “We have lodged a complaint with Sidhgora police. Until we get adequate security it will be difficult to run the bus service,” Jha said.
He added some employees led by City Bus Karamchari Sangh president Ganga Prasad recently came to his office and abused him and others present verbally. Notably, the bus service has been plagued by problems ever since its launch. Insiders alleged that a section of retired employees of the erstwhile Bihar State Road Transport Corporation regularly stir up trouble by provoking drivers to go for frequent strike.
The city bus service which ferries about 30,000 passengers daily has recently introduced buses in five new routes including Sakchi- Govindpur and Sakchi-Rahargora route, keeping in view the demand of passengers. With this the number of routes have been increased to 13.
Sources further revealed that the local JTDC manager , Rakesh Kumar was recently assaulted by a section of drivers at the Baridih depot over some pety issue. An FIR has been lodged in this connection with the Sidhgora police station.
Kumar confirmed the incident and said that the bus service has been suffering due to a section of drivers, who is creating problems. ” Indiscipline would not be tolerated . If required we would go for fresh recruitment of drivers, ” said Kumar adding that the city bus service was launched with the objective of benefitting common masses.
Meanwhiule, the Jamshedpur Notified Area Committee (JNAC), Mango Notified Area Committee and Jugsalai municipality have mooted a proposal to run city bus service under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) as per the public private partnership (PPP) model.
As per the proposal, an Expression of Interest would be taken out by JNAC for selection of a private party for running of the city bus services which would be monitored by the urban development department. The buses would be repaired by the urban development before being handed over to the private party.
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. Out of the 50 Swaraj Mazda make buses procured under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) in 2010 at a cost of nearly Rs 5 crore only 10 odd buses are in running condition at the moment in only three out of the seven notified routes.
Notably, Jamshedpur was allotted a fleet of 50odd 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.
