The Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC), during the period of lockdown, has been using this time to keep the fleet spick and span.

The MTC which has a fleet of 3,500 buses has not been operating buses from March 25, when the lockdown kicked in. With 200 to 300 special buses operated for transporting sanitary and other workers of the Chennai Corporation, the remaining buses are being cleaned in a scheduled manner along with taking up regular maintenance of vehicles.

A senior official of MTC said more than 3,200 buses are regularly given a water wash, and the interiors cleaned using disinfectants. Also the maintenance staff in the 33 bus depots are involved in changing the engine oil, checking the tyres, replacing the coolant solutions in the radiators and repairing technical snags of electrical wiring of the buses.

The MTC official said the maintenance work even during the daily operation of buses was a regular feature but with the lockdown in place till April 14, the buses, particularly old buses, are being given more attention to increase their life span.

The MTC has directed depot managers to inspect the cleaning operations by posting supervisors.