Ninety buses have been procured for Ranchi so far

Ranchi, Jan. 20: The much-awaited city bus service, initially planned for a Republic Day launch in Ranchi, Jamshedpur and Dhanbad under JNNURM, has hit a roadblock as no private operator has shown interest in running the project.

No operator responded to the advertisement put out by the Jharkhand State Tourism Development Corporation (JSTDC), apparently put off by some of the clauses under which they were expected to run and maintain the buses.

“We may be able to start the city bus service only in February now. JSTDC will publish another advertisement for operators soon,” Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC) chief executive officer Sudarshan Singh told The Telegraph, pointing out that the last date for receiving applications was January 15.

Both Ranchi and Dhanbad are to get 100 buses each, and Jamshedpur 50 buses, to revamp the transport system in the three cities under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).

For Ranchi, the allocation is Rs 17.5 crore — for 100 buses — with the Centre contributing Rs 14 crore and the state putting up the remaining Rs 3.5 crore. Already 90 buses have been bought for the state capital.

The operators weren’t happy with a number of conditions embedded in the government’s proposal, primarily the time frame. While the government wanted to hand over the project for seven years, the operators wanted a window of at least 10 years.

Only companies with a working capital of Rs 3 crore and 10 years experience in the business of public transport were eligible to put in tenders. Also, at a pre-bid meeting last year, operators from Delhi and Nagpur, among others, had expressed their apprehension about the state’s turbulent political situation.

“No operator wants to invite trouble with those who run auto-rickshaws in cities. The police may be deployed for 10 days to ensure that the buses ply. But what happens after that?” said Chanchal Chatterjee, the former president of the Jharkhand Bus Owners’ Association.

JSTDC general manager Alok Prasad agreed the only way out now was to invite applications again from eligible operators for the city bus services.

Over the last few months, the urban development department has taken a number of steps to clear the way for the bus service, namely by stopping registration of new auto-rickshaws, the backbone of public transport in the state capital and all other cities and towns in the state.

Jamshedpur is the only city in the state where a bus service is run by private operators in addition to the usual fleet of vans and auto-rickshaws.

So far, urban development secretary Arun Kumar Singh has issued two circulars to the state transport commissioner. The first directed him to ensure that no new permits were issued for auto-rickshaws or any other vehicle meant for public transport in the routes marked for the bus service in the three cities.

The second letter talks of stopping registration of auto-rickshaws and vehicles meant for use as public transport.

Officials of the state transport department are now studying the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act in the light of the urban development department circulars which they are sure will invite severe public criticism, especially from those involved in running autos.