Rising wear and tear due to potholed roads
Nagpur: Bus routes have been temporarily diverted in many parts of the city as the Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) is repairing potholes or bad roads.
The sudden change in routes and long journey times in the past few days have caused inconvenience to commuters in using the Aapli bus service.
An official of the NMC’s transport department said, “On many routes, buses are not plying to the designated destination due to bad roads.” He said that the potholed roads in the entire city are causing trouble to the pedestrians and motorists.
“NMC has stopped operation of Aapli buses on at least five routes due to under-construction cement road work or poor condition of roads. Many routes have also been changed due to bad roads.
The unfinished cement road work on Hingna, Pardi and Kampti routes has turned into a nightmare not only for private vehicles but also for city buses plying on these routes. Other routes affected include Sitabuldi-Nagsenvan and Sitabuldi-Yashodhara Nagar.
TOI has been highlighting potholed roads across the city causing problems for commuters and motorists.
Passengers using your buses are upset. Mahesh Gothi, a regular passenger of the Aapli bus, said, “The civic body is operating only 65% of its 400-odd red buses and diversion of routes due to bad roads is adding to our woes.”
“The repair work is going on, so the buses make minor detours for an hour or so. Every day the breakdown has also increased and at least 20 buses are stranded on different routes,” the official said.
One of the red bus operators confirmed that bad roads have increased the maintenance cost of your bus by 30%. Bad roads are causing damage to suspension, steering box and shock absorbers of many buses. The operator claimed that problems related to foundation bolts and flat tires are also common.
An Apli bus driver admitted on the condition of anonymity, “This makes the situation worse for us and both the buses and passengers have to suffer on the diverted routes.”
Many a times, due to the failure of city buses, passengers were asked to get down mid-way. Another driver said, “Due to the breakdown, the drivers and conductors of AAPli buses are facing the wrath of the passengers.”
wobbling wheels
* Routes are frequently diverted
*Increase in the number of flat tires
*Bounce in the breakdown
*Surge in maintenance costs
*travel time extended*
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