BRTS crisis: Financial mismgmt leads to suspension of bus service

Charanjit Singh Teja

Amritsar, August 8

The immediate cause of suspension of the Metro bus service is a private firm, which left the contract midway. But the actual problem behind the routine suspension of the service is fund crunch and financial mismanagement. The government had spent Rs 550 crore on the project and insisted on the first phase in December 2016.

Then Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal was in a hurry to launch the project to get benefit in the 2017 Assembly elections. Instead of making some suitable financial arrangements for operating the bus service, the government made makeshift arrangements. The fleet of 92 buses plying on the 35-kilometre track from 6 am to 10 pm costs Rs 4 crore monthly. The government offered free travel for three months which attracted 80,000 ridership daily in January 2019. Later, the BRTS authorities started collecting bus fare and ridership dipped to 20,000 daily. Initially, the fare slabs were not rational and the government took three years to amend the fare list.

After operating the bus for three years, the Punjab Infrastructure Development Board (PIDB) handed over the project to the Local Bodies Department in September 2020. The department asked the Amritsar Municipal Corporation to operate the service, but then MC Commissioner Komal Mittal and the General House of MC refused to take over as

it was not financially viable. The fund-strapped MC was unable to take enormous financial liabilities.

Punjab Municipal Infrastructure Development Company (PMIDC), a wing of the Local Government Department, is now officially operating the bus service from October 1, 2020. A government company, Punjab Metro Bus Society, and Punjab Roadway assist the PIMDC for operating the bus service.

There are a total of four private companies hired by Punjab Bus Metro Society to operate the Metro bus service. These companies take care of security, tickets, technical support and call centres. A firm for drivers and mechanical assistance is yet to be hired by authorities. These contractors and employees often go on strike for their demands, which disrupt the service. The workers are working on meagre salaries, which is less than the collector rates.

Kulwant Singh Ankhi, an activist making efforts for the success of the bus service, said, “The government spent Rs 550 crore of public money, which we paid from our pockets in the form of tax. Hundreds of century-old trees along the Mall Road were axed for the project. The city paid a high cost for this project. But politicians and bureaucrats hardly seem concerned about this public transport project. The government should undertake the BRTS like CTU, Chandigarh, and end the outsourcing system for the success of the project.

In the absence of any responsible authorities, the BRTS is not collecting much from the advertisement. Experts claim that the BRTS corridor has a potential to collect at least Rs 20 crore annually from the outdoor advertisements.