Govt to probe purchase of Marco Polo buses

 The State government will conduct an inquiry into the purchase of Marco Polo buses in 2008 by the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) and Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), before scrapping them.

Commuters of the Marco Polo buses complain of high decibel noise, erratic functioning of air conditioner, overheating at rear, besides high smoke emission and frequent breakdowns. They have also complained that even the interiors of the buses are not appealing. The State government had purchased 98 Marco Polo buses for BMTC and 45 Marco Polo buses for KSRTC, under the JnNURM scheme of the Union government.

Both BMTC and KSRTC have been mulling over scrapping them for long. They had sought the permission of the State and the Union governments. Recently, the Centre communicated to the State to go ahead with the decision of scrapping them. Before that, it also ordered for an inquiry to be conducted to fix the responsibility of the technical team that had recommended its purchase. 

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy said, “An inquiry will be held to fix accountability, and the decision to scrap the buses will be taken by the Cabinet.”

BMTC Managing Director Ekroop Caur added that the average per kilometre of the bus stood at Rs 27, which was too high. “If we continue to use Marco Polo buses, we will incur a loss of Rs 90 crore,” she said. 

These buses were much cheaper when compared to the cost of similar air-conditioned buses offered by the manufacturers of Volvo, Corona, etc. While a Volvo bus costs between Rs 80 and 90 lakh, Corona comes with a price tag of Rs 55 to 65 lakh, and Marco Polo was bought for Rs 35 lakh, per bus.

 The BMTC officials admit that though the Marco Polo buses were cheaper, they were riddled with technical flaws.