Plaint to Lokayukta against Transport minister, KSRTC chief engineer

A complaint has been lodged with the Lokayukta against chief engineer of Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) B Mukkanna and Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy alleging that the corporation has incurred a loss of Rs 6.37 crore due to the flawed design of the Mayura fleet of buses.

The complainant, Girish Gowda, has stated that Mayura buses were indigenously built by the KSRTC using 222” wheelbase chassis fitted with 119 horsepower engine. Despite several complaints, the chief engineer inducted 53 Mayura buses, between 2004 and 2007, into the KSRTC fleet.

The complainant further stated that though there was a report about the misappropriation of the funds allocated for the project, no action was taken against the chief engineer. Complaints by the KSRTC staff and the passengers about the Mayura buses were not brought to the notice of the management.

According to the complaint, air-condition facilities and auxiliary engines purchased for the Mayura buses, worth around Rs 2.75 crore, were dumped in the godown because it had compatibility problems.

The air-condition facilties, already fitted in Mayura buses, had to be removed. Permanent windowpanes had to be removed and replaced with sliding windowpanes, which costed the corporation Rs 62.46 lakh.

“The chief engineer took the decision to use 119 horsepower engines for the air-conditioned buses, despite knowing that it was not feasible. According to the report submitted to the government, nine of 13 buses inducted in the first phase in 2004, had serious problems and several complaints were lodged with the competent authority. The project, however, continued despite flawed design,” the complaint stated.

The corporation had inducted 18 buses in 2004-05, a total of 33 buses in 2005-06 and two buses in 2006-07. In the second phase, 244” wheelbase chassis were used with 177 horsepower engines which resulted in additional cost on the manufacturing of Mayura buses. Despite all this, the buses failed to perform on the expected lines, the complaint added.

All these points were also mentioned in the Comptroller and Auditor General report in 2011. There was no feasibility study conducted before taking up the indigenously developed air-conditioned luxury buses.

“The corporation introduced Mayura air-conditioned buses without adequate technical study, proper planning and performance study, and continued inducting more buses in spite of problems in the air-conditioning system and auxiliary engines, resulting in wasteful expenditure,” the in-house report stated.