Electric Buses to Hit the Roads by December: BCCL

MP News: After complaints from citizens and public representatives, BCCL has now claimed that it will launch e-buses on the roads from December.

This is the third such announcement made on this issue. If this claim proves true this time, it will bring great relief to the public. Currently, the public is somehow managing their travel with e-rickshaws and Blue Line buses. This is the situation even though people had dreamt of travelling in low-floor buses after purchasing expensive Mayor passes. Phase-1 of the PM e-bus service will provide 100 buses.

Two new depots are being built for this in Sant Hirdaram Nagar and Kasturba Nagar. The selection of the new bus operator has also been completed. In the second phase, 95 more buses will arrive. New depots will be built at Arif Nagar and Kolar Road.

Depots have been built at two locations for the e-buses. The first batch of these buses will be launched on the roads by December. - Harendra Narayan, Municipal Commissioner

MP Expresses Surprise

94% of the buses of BCCL's four bus operators are off the roads. MP Alok Sharma expressed surprise that only 95 city buses out of 368 are operational. MP Sharma asked the Municipal Commissioner Harendra Narayan (Harendra Narayan) to provide details on how many buses each operator is running. He questioned why such a large number of buses were off the road when public transport should be increased. MLA Bhagwandas Sabnani (Bhagwandas Sabnani) also agreed with the MP's concerns.

Mayor Pass Facility Also Available

There is a proposal to provide the Mayor Pass facility to citizens on e-buses as well. A separate amount will be released to the operators for this. Under this, students, differently-abled persons, women, senior citizens, and employees will be able to travel at discounted rates in different categories through the Mayor Smart Pass.

Issue Raised in the Assembly

The issue of two hundred and fifty city buses disappearing from the city's roads in a year has also been raised in the Vidhan Sabha (State Assembly). Out of 368 buses operating on 25 routes, only 95 buses are currently running. This is causing hardship for female students and working professionals. Approximately 100,000 people are facing difficulties daily.