Travel miseries on the bus

Commuting by public transport is a nightmare when it rains. If those who commute by autos have their own tales of horror to narrate, regular Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) passengers have more reasons than one to complain when it rains.

Barring the newer BS-IV BMTC buses, most of the old buses have no wipers and water seeps through broken roof tops and windows, leaving the roofs and floors wet and damp. Even the drivers are not spared of water dripping from a leaky roof. The BMTC bus drivers say that repeated complaints by them to the management of BMTC seem to have fallen on deaf ears and those who continue to bear the brunt of poor maintenance are the bus drivers and regular BMTC commuters.

Metrolife interacted with the BMTC officials, bus commuters and bus drivers to understand if anything is being done to ensure the buses are water-proof. Surprisingly, Anjum Parwez, managing director (BMTC), wasn’t aware that a lot of BS-I and BS-II norm buses had no wipers.

“How is that possible?” was his first reaction when he was told about the missing wipers on buses. “I will immediately direct my officers to attend to the problem and fix it at once,” he says.

Anjum says that he has taken note of the leaking roofs on buses, broken windows, glasses and seats. “An effort has been made to identify buses with leaking roofs and all buses that come for a fitness certificate will undergo ‘roof testing.’ We bought a ‘roof testing plant’ and plan to carry out the tests as soon as possible to ensure the commuters are not troubled further,” he says.
   
He also says that fixing buses is not a long-drawn, tedious job and isn’t a very costly affair either. “There are almost 2,000 old buses running on the road but in a day, only 30 to 40 buses can be repaired and fixed,” he shares. He points out that they are planning to scrap 755 old buses and replace them with BS-IV norm buses by the end of this year.

It’s a nightmare, say the BMTC bus drivers, especially when it rains. And without wipers, they have a tough time, negotiating the potholes on the road. A BMTC driver, who didn’t want to be named, says, “The fan outlet, just above the driver’s seat, is broken and there’s water dripping from it, when it rains. It’s terrible to drive in such conditions. I have complained about the missing wipers and broken window panes but nothing is being done.” Another BMTC driver has the same woes to narrate.

“The buses are crowded during the peak hours and while our job is only to drive, we end up fixing the leakages by stuffing cloth and whatever else we get to prevent water seepage,” confesses a driver.  

But regular BMTC commuters have an endless list of complaints. While they concede that BMTC services may have improved, they believe that much need to be done to ensure the facilities inside BMTC buses are improved.

Shino, a student, says, “The windows are broken and some don’t close. When it rains, the roofs leak and we have a tough time keeping the water out. We have to cling on to whatever we can till we reach our destination.”

Tony, another commuter notes, “Sometimes, the seats on buses are broken and we have to not only hold on to our belongings but to the seats as well. The facilities are poor despite a raise in the fares,” Tony sums up.