Mangalore: “Airavat,” the state owned Volvo buses have indeed turned into a “White elephant,” for the KSRTC, Mangalore division.
The bad road on the Shiradi Ghat stretch has forced KSRTC to spend an average of Rs 60,000 per day for the repair and maintenance of its Volvo bus fleet.
Every day, there are about 32 buses plying between Mangalore and Bangalore (including a few to Mysore). An equal number of buses ply in the opposite direction. Thus in a day there are 64 buses running in this route.
KSRTC officials say that the horrible road at Shiradi Ghat causes severe damage to the Volvo fleet resulting in high maintenance cost.
National Highway (NH 75) passing through Shiradi Ghat is the main route connecting Mangalore and Bangalore. But the road here is in a horrible condition making it a nightmare for the passengers and drivers.
The road is filled with potholes and craters and the driver cannot avoid them. In some stretches, there is no trace of the road! As the buses moves into these craters, the suspension parts of the Volvo buses are damaged.
Bus operators find it very difficult to move on this road as the wear and tear of vehicles is very high. Volvo buses are severely affected by the condition of the roads.
“Due to the bad roads we face problem like suspension failure, cut in anti roll ball and also cracks in bellows. Usually in Volvo buses these parts do not get damaged. But the road condition is so horrible that these are damaged. These parts are very costly.
Thus on an average we spend Rs 60,000 per day for repair and maintenance of our Volvo buses,” KSRTC sources told Deccan Chronicle.If Rs 60,000 is pent per day for maintenance, KSRTC has to spend around Rs 18 lakh per month!
