After eight years, about Rs 166 crore of public money spent to buy air conditioner buses has evaporated. The condition of these King Long AC buses has worsened to such an extent that the Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) Undertaking has decided to scrap these 259 AC buses from its fleet.
The total depreciated cost of these buses now stands at Rs 47 crore. These buses have run barely for 6-8 years. The BEST had first procured its first batch of 45 AC buses in 2008-09 at a cost of Rs 55.53 lakh each. In the next financial year, 200 AC buses were added to the fleet which were purchased at Rs 65.56 lakh each.
"During the period of 2009-10, the AC buses were running across the city and slowly started giving birth to problems," said a BEST official. The daily passengers using these AC buses had touched 84,000 and had reached the peak.
In the last phase of procurement in 2010, the Undertaking procured 14 AC buses at cost of Rs 67.04 lakh each. After that, it saw a continuous downfall. There were series of breakdowns, these buses refused to climb flyovers, nonfunctional ACs and even the body had rusted due to the humidity.
"At least Rs 6 crore was spent on maintenance of these buses, annually," said Sunil Ganacharya, member, BEST Committee.
At present, the proposal has been readied and soon it will be put in front of the BEST committee for approval. Once it gets approval, they will auction these AC buses.
NUMBER TALK
- The total depreciated cost of these buses now stands at Rs 47 crore
- The BEST had first procured its first batch of 45 AC buses in 2008-09 at a cost of Rs 55.53 lakh each
- In 2009-10, 200 AC buses were added to the fleet which were purchased at Rs 65.56 lakh each
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