Delay in bus purchase forces PMPML to take a fresh step

The delay in the purchase of buses under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) is not only posing transportational difficulties to the commuters,but also causing administrative problems for the Pune Mahanahar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML). Despite issuing a tender almost a year back for the appointment of an agency for the management of buses bought under JNNURM,the PMPML has been compelled to scrap the earlier tender procedure and issue a fresh tender,since 550 JNNURM buses are yet to arrive.

The installation of LED information boards comes under the Intelligent Traffic System (ITS),that the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has been working on. Under this system,each of the 650 buses would sport four digital boards — one each on the front,side,rear and inside the bus. There would be an announcement system to inform passengers about the approaching bus stops. “Last year we had floated a tender to appoint a private agency for the management of the JNNURM bus fleet. We had even received positive responses from the private players as about eleven of them had come forward. However,since the JNNURM buses were yet to arrive,there was no point in appointing any agency for the work. Hence,we had to scrap the initial tender process and issue a fresh tender once again,” Satish Kulkarni,joint managing director of PMPML said. Chief Engineer of PMPML Sunil Burse said,”The concerned agency will not only have to supply and install the equipment necessary for this,but also maintain it for the initial period of five years. It will have a number of ITS elements including vehicle tracking,installation of LED boards,passenger information system,among other things.”

“It is an embarassment to the PMPML to issue the tender once again. The delay in the purchase of buses is happening due to the ego clashes of between the top brass of the PMPML and the civic adminsitration. So far,only 150 buses have been purchased. People want buses,irrespective of which side the doors are on,” Jugal Rathi,convenor of PMP Pravasi Manch said.