Derailment of JnNURM buses
- Hueiyen Lanpao Editorial :: August 06, 2012 -

Considering the unviability of the project in its present form, the reported failure of semi-low floor bus services on the roads of Imphal may not have come as a big surprise to many people.

As we have already pointed out on the first day of launching the service on February 23 itself, the 650 mm size semi-low floor buses provided under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewable Mission (JnNURM) are not simply suitable to the road condition of Imphal.

Apart from the difficulty in negotiating the buses at road junctures, the narrowness of the existing roads and the space occupied by the medium-sized JnNRUM buses caused traffic snarl behind while dropping or picking up passengers at many points.

Why the government of Manipur opted for the medium-sized buses, while it was given the choice of selecting from among six different types of buses, without any consideration over the existing condition of roads in Imphal city is still an unsolved mystery.

Roads in Imphal would have been more suitable for Mini-Midi-sized buses, and in case of opting Mini-Midi buses, the number of fleet sanctioned too could have been increased, thus leading to a corresponding increase in the frequency of buses plying on the roads.

Another problem with the medium-sized JnNURM buses is the low mileage despite proving to be major fuel-guzzlers.

The JNNURM buses have mileage as low as 1.5 KMPL as compare to other normal buses whose mileages vary from 3 to 3.5 KMPL. No doubt, JnNURM is a attractive and noble scheme introduced by the Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India with an eye on encouraging urban level reforms and fast tract planned infrastructures development of identified 'mission cities'.

We are happy that Imphal was chosen as one of the 65 mission cities with special consideration on urban traffic condition, depleting transport services and the impact of road condition to the urban environment.

Unfortunately, lack of foresightedness on part of the state government and its officials concerned has led to possible derailment of the project.

These swanky and comfortable semi-low floor buses should have come as a relief to thousands of commuters, who are tired of the dangerous taxi rides and its arrogant drivers.

But this has not been the case.

Learning from this experience, the state government and more particularly the implementing agency of JnNURM bus services, should find out ways and means of attracting private players to take over the service under PPP model partnerships.

If requires, necessary alteration should be made in the terms and conditions of the tender.

Mind you, so far no private parties have shown any interest to bid in spite of repeated tender notices, mainly on account of conditions like giving back the cost of buses within 7 years of service operation, authorization letter from banks, etc.

There is also the need to increase the number of buses plying on the roads, diversify the routes and make the service more efficient.

With expansion of roads in Imphal, despite the ubiquitous red marking, still a distant dream, efforts should also be made to see, whether the remaining buses to be provided under the project, could be switched to size suitable to the existing road condition.

To cut short the discourse, now is the time for the officials concerned of the state government to make use of their grey cells, if the project is to be saved from an unceremonious burial.