Old buses parked outside the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation’s Bus Bhavan in Hyderabad on Saturday.
| Photo Credit: G RAMAKRISHNA
Dozens of buses of the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation’s (TSRTC) Hyderabad and Secunderabad region have aged so much that they are either approaching the scrapping threshold of being in service for 15 years or will soon reach this period in a year or two.
Data shows that around 218 buses in the Hyderabad region have been in service between the age bracket of 15 years and 17 years. The case is the same in the Secunderabad region. As many as 303 buses are in the same age bracket here. Nearly 900 buses from both regions will approach the scrapping threshold in a couple of years.
According to transport researchers and specialists, the scrapping threshold, as a rule of thumb, is when buses are 15 years old.
Additionally, another 330 buses in the Hyderabad region are more than 15 years old. Similarly, a little over 300 buses in the Secunderabad region are more than 15 years old.
Reacting to the data, transport specialist Prashanth Bachu pointed out that there are fewer buses which are less than 10 years old. He said: “We need new buses. There should be an addition to the fleet. These buses have run lakhs of kilometres each day. So there needs to be a change. Cities like Cuttack and Bhubaneswar have younger buses.”
Others wonder how the Road Transport Authority is turning a blind eye to buses that have crossed the scrapping threshold. They also raised concerns over the likelihood of these buses polluting the city as they do not adhere to prevailing emissions norms.
According to the data released by the Association of State Road Transport Undertakings, Telangana has a State-wide fleet strength of 9,361 buses. Of these 6,629 are owned by the TSRTC and the rest 2,732 are hired buses. There are approximately 2,700 buses plying the Greater Hyderabad Zone.
