Monday, 28 June 2021 | PNS | Dehradun
The State Government is operating electric buses in Dehradun at considerable loss in order to gradually wipe the existence of city buses from the city. This was alleged by the president of the city bus union, Vijay Vardhan Dandriyal while adding that the Dehradun Smart City Limited (DSCL) is bearing a loss of Rs three lakh on the operation of each electric bus every month.
“As per the information received under Right to Information (RTI) Act, it was revealed that five e-buses of DSCL travelled 55,825 kilometres in two months. In these two months, DSCL earned Rs 11,14,705 as bus fare from passengers while DSCL needed to pay Rs 37,67,649 to the company which has signed a contract to operate these buses,” stated Dandriyal. He also estimated that at this rate, DSCL will lose over Rs 100 crore with the operation of the planned 30 e-buses in the next 10 years. Accusing the transport department, he said that these e-buses are being operated on the same routes as city buses and the fares were also kept somewhat similar with the approval of the State Transport Authority (STA) to end the operation of city buses.
“The department is so desperate to make us vanish that they are bearing loss every month. They are also snatching the livelihood of hundreds of people at the time when people are fighting to survive,” stated Dandriyal. He disclosed that his association would approach the State Government after the Covid curfew regarding this matter. This correspondent tried to reach the DSCL PRO multiple times for her statement on the matter but got no response.
