Location: Baridih depot, 200 metres from Sidhgora-Baridih Main Road

Scene: 50 white and red buses stand idle — some with broken windscreens, some gathering rust in rain

The ambitious city bus project, under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), continues to grapple with a plethora of problems ever since it debuted two years ago.

Of the fleet of 50, procured for Jamshedpur in September 2010 at a cost of Rs 5.50 crore , only 20 buses were pressed into service.

Even this truncated fleet, which plied on five routes, is now grounded at Baridih, with drivers and conductors agitating against the Jharkhand Tourism Development Corporation (JTDC) over payment delay.

About half a dozen of these buses have their windscreens shattered and doors broken. Besides, not a single bus out of the operational 20 have necessary emergency gear such as stepney wheels, jack or wrench.

Tiger Joginder Singh, general secretary of the City Bus Karmachari Sangh, said while the buses were running on different routes, they were parked at Sitaramdera bus terminus, near Mango, for around two months without protection, leading to thefts.

“The JTDC and service provider Capital Detective and Security Services Private Limited decided to shift the buses to Sitaramdera without any reason. It was only after theft of spare parts was detected that they hurriedly brought the buses back to the Baridih depot. At least here we have guards deputed by the agency. Most drivers used to take instruments from garage to repair buses when there were technical snags,” said Singh.

He added that the buses were gathering dust and rust, as they were not kept under any shed for more than a year and were, hence, exposed to the elements.

“Any vehicle will develop snags and gather rust if it is not used. As many as 30 buses have not been pressed into service ever since they were brought prior to the National Games,” the union leader said.

JTDC local manager Rakesh Kumar, however, blamed the private agency for poor maintenance. “We are not satisfied with its performance and have started paying drivers and conductors from the corpus meant for the agency. We hope to resume the city bus service soon,” he said.

He further said that cheques had arrived from the JTDC office and had also been deposited in banks. “We hope to get cash in hand by Wednesday for distribution among drivers and conductors,” Kumar said.

He, however, conceded that no permanent terminus was the main hindrance in maintenance of the buses. “We do not have a terminus of our own and park buses on the road. The private bus operators also indulge in fights with city bus staff. The project in Jamshedpur is yet to get financially profitable and all this is reflected in the sorry state of buses,” he added.