Drivers want change in design as there is vision block problem in these buses too.
Despite complaints by Ahmedabad Municipal Transport Service (AMTS) officials about the inferior quality of the buses, Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) agreed to purchase buses from Tata Motors. But now the fear of AMTS officials has come true as almost all the buses supplied by Tata Motors are rusted.
Ahmedabad Janmarg Ltd, a special purpose vehicle floated by AMC for operation of bus rapid transit system (BRTS), purchases feeder buses and hands them over to AMTS for operation.
AMTS refused to accept 51 buses in early January as the company had failed to incorporate necessary changes in design suggested by AMC. Corrosion in the body of the buses was another reason why AMTS was unwilling to include the buses in its fleet.
AMTS officials recently inspected 141 buses supplied by Tata Motors and found almost all buses corroded, said an official. Since parts of the buses are rusted it could affect the strength of the body of the buses, he added.
Arjav Shah, transport manager of AMTS, confirmed the news and said they have written a letter to the company on the matter. "This is not enough. The company has not incorporated changes in design of the bus. Had the company as well as the authority consulted drivers while finalising designs, this problem would not have occurred," said a technician working with AMTS.
Even after lowering the height of the dashboard, vision is still not very clear on the right side making it difficult for drivers to drive the bus, he added. "The civic body has paid for the buses and now it is the responsibility of the company to correct the problem," said Shah.
It should be noted that the company had asked for a hike of Rs 3.5 lakh per bus after the purchase order was placed and the civic body had agreed to it. Bhupendra Patel, chairman of AMC's standing committee, had said they could not find any other company to supply buses as per their specifications and that they couldn't have waited longer.
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