The State Transport Department is waiting for funds to be allotted by the government for refurbishing more than 1,200 buses in the eight State Transport Corporations (STCs).
The Transport Department has already sent the proposal for rebuilding the bus bodies and is finding it difficult to operate these vehicles because of safety concerns, sources said. Of the total of 1,200 buses, around 300 have been identified in the Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC).
A senior official said they had demanded funds to the tune of ₹120 crore for modifying the buses with new bodies but the sum was yet to be sanctioned by the Finance Department.
The Transport Department had drawn out a revamping scheme for old buses whose chassis were good but the body had worn out leading to leaks during rainy season and also failing in road worthiness.
The eight STCs have a fleet strength of 26,000 buses where nearly 8,000 buses are being operated despite them having run their full lifetime. “In this stressed financial time as it is not possible to entirely replace the old buses with new ones, a study was conducted to identify those buses which have good chassis so that their life cycle could be extended by just constructing a new body,” the official said.
The Transport Department officials are hoping that the Chief Minister M.K. Stalin would intervene to allot funds for speeding up the project, as the easing of restrictions was bound to increase the passenger population throughout the State.
