‘Extra buses will be plied when NMC’s financial condition improves’

Nagpur’s city bus service is in a shambles. Shivaji Jagtap, Nagpur Municipal Corporation’s (NMC’s) transport manager, is the man in charge of this sector. TOI talked to him to find out whether any improvement is in sight.
Excerpts from an interview...

In view of the fact that NMC is unable to pay its four bus operators, do you think the earlier model was right?

Certainly not. The earlier operator Vansh Nimay Infratech used to ply buses on 48 routes and had a fleet of around 200 buses. Now we are plying on 108 routes and have an operational fleet of 375. The earlier model was a net cost contract wherein the operator invested money and generated revenue on its own. The present one is a gross cost contract model where revenue risk is taken by the local body. All over the world net cost contracts are being replaced by gross cost ones. The net cost contract operator is there only to make money and not to provide service. Hence we can never expect good service from it.

As per the contract with NMC, the four bus operators were to ply 487 buses. When will all the buses hit the road?

Currently, we are plying 375 buses. We have 45 mini-buses that can be plied at a short notice. However, NMC has deliberately put their launch on hold as it is unable to pay the bus operators. The extra buses will be plied when the financial condition improves.

Nagpur Mahanagar Parivan is always short of funds. Have you raised the issue with NMC?

We sent regular communication to the chief accounts and finance officer (CAFO) for release of money. Rs108 crore has been allocated to us in the budget so ideally there should be no need for us to seek the money. We have also sought opening of an escrow account of Rs50 crore.

What is the solution to this mess?

The bus operators are incurring losses because people are not using city buses. Only 7 to 8% people use public transport. Government needs to take hard decisions to make that happen. This will also mean that the bus service will have to be improved greatly.

How can you expect people to use them when bus stops don’t have timetables?

Electronic display boards will be installed by L&T under Smart City project. The work has been delayed but will be completed soon.

Have you held talks with Mahametro so that your buses don’t compete with the Metro?

We have done route rationalization in consultation with Mahametro. We will complement Metro, not compete with it.