Govt’s low-floor ride AN EXPENSIVE AFFAIR!

Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) report castigates govt for procuring low-floor buses at unjustified high rate and adding to cost by installing unnecessary features

Delhi government’s showpiece transport initiative — low-floor buses — has run into statistical hurdles in the report of the CAG released recently. The report seriously questions the thinking and rationale behind purchasing those swanky buses. Here's some of the findings of CAG-
1.) It pointed out that the buses were ‘‘purchased at rates over and above the justified rate prepared by the technical committee of the corporation which would burden the exchequer by Rs 244.30 crore and there would be an additional outgo of Rs 833.30 crore on account of the higher annual maintenance charges over a period of 12 years’’. 

2.) It also pointed out that even though the Central Road Research Institute of Pune had pronounced features such as automatic transmission system, retarder and antiskid lock braking system in the buses as “unnecessary”, an additional Rs 168.94 crore was spent on these. The report said that the 3,156 AC and non-AC buses procured by the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) during 2008-09 were unsuitable for plying on ‘‘uneven and harsher terrains’’. Reason for fire in the engines and dents and damages to the lower chasis(body) of the buses.

 3.)At 90.5%, DTC’s average fleet utilization was found to be below the all-India average of 92% for peak hours. During the evening shift, the utilization level dropped sharply by 33%. The average kilometres run by each bus per day in a year decreased from 193 km in 2004-05 to 132 km in 2008-09.

4.) The percentage of cancellation of scheduled kilometres increased from 19.4% in 2004-05 to 27.9% in 2008-09. It was also found in checks across 17 depots of the corporation during the year 2008-09 that 1,189 out of 1,798 buses (66.13%) had been issued fitness certificates that clearly said they were not to ply on local routes. Yet the corporation is going against the suggestion — making the buses a hazard to public safety. 

5.) The report also confirmed what has always been the public perception. The fare structure, which is decided by the Delhi government, has no scientific basis and there is a risk of commuters paying the price for the corporation’s inefficiency. 
            
While DTC was inefficient, the transport department turned out to be profligate.  ‘‘An amount of Rs 7.81 crore was spent on feasibility studies of monorail and light rail transit projects without conducting preliminary deliberations with experts,’’ the CAG report states. The corridors were found unviable. 

The department, the audit found, is also plagued by acute shortage of staff — 56% gazetted and 60% non-gazetted posts. 
Bumpy Road-  In 2008-09, DTC suffered a loss of Rs 1,708.55 cr, spending Rs 119.27 cr for every kilometer while earning only Rs 25.90cr per Km.


The Commonwealth games have become an opportunity for the corrupt Delhi officials who, don't even know how to efficiently run their respective departments, but know how to churn out the funds and put it in their own pockets at the expense of tax payers' money.
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