Off road: An AC bus in Patna. Telegraph picture

Patna, Nov. 15: Eden Transport Private Limited has decided to roll back its eight air-conditioned (AC) buses from tomorrow.

These buses were being operated with their air conditioners switched off since the first week of November.

The operator has taken the decision fearing a breakdown of the AC equipment if the buses continue to run with the AC switched off.

“The AC buses were not generating sufficient revenue, forcing us to run them with the AC switched off. Subsequently, we made the fare on the AC buses equal to that of non-AC buses. However, recently the AC system company experts claimed that the equipment will develop snags and might break down if we continue to run the buses with the AC switched off. Hence, we have decided to withdraw all eight AC buses from tomorrow,” said Kunal Sharma, chief operations officer, Eden Transport Private Limited.

Sharma added that they might run the buses on blower mode during extreme cold conditions.

“While we may run these buses on blower mode during extreme cold conditions, the AC bus operations would be resumed from March next year,” said Sharma.

The rift between the state transport department and Eden Transport Private Limited on the operation of ladies special buses still seems unresolved.

Transport department sources said a meeting of their officials and those of Bihar State Road Transport Corporation was held yesterday to discuss the possible solution of the issue.

“Though several important aspects on the issue of resumption of ladies special buses were discussed during the meeting, it would take a few more days to arrive at the final decision,” said a source in BSRTC.

Now, both parties are discussing whether to bring back the 15 ladies special buses or to increase the number of seats reserved for women in each bus.