Food for thought: Condemned CTU buses as canteens

A proposal in this regard was discussed recently by the administrator at a meeting of senior officials

Soon,city residents might find themselves being served out of buses. If the proposal of Punjab Governor and UT Administrator Shivraj V Patil is put into action,the condemned buses of the Chandigarh Transport Undertaking could be put to use as canteens. The proposal was discussed recently by the administrator at a meeting of senior officials. In fact,the administrator has over the past few months made several proposals pertaining to CTU buses and not many have helped the department.

With its aging fleet,CTU has 49 condemned buses which are kept at the workshops. As a normal practice,the condemned vehicles in any department are auctioned. However,Patil has proposed that instead of auctioning the vehicles,these could be used as canteens. The buses could be provided to anyone who wants to start a canteen.

Since the buses are no longer in working condition,these would be towed to the place where a canteen has to be set up. The interiors of the buses would have to be modified before these are put to use as canteens.

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An official of the administration confirmed that the proposal for running canteens in condemned buses had been mooted and the feasibility was being examined.

It is not the first time that Patil has mooted a proposal for the transport department. Earlier,he had insisted that the long-route buses be shifted to the local routes. The aim was that for the city residents,the frequency of buses should increase. Consequently,initially 33 buses were taken off the long routes and later 60 more were shifted to the local routes.

The decision has,however,not gone down well with the CTU union. A member of the union says that the structures of the buses on the long routes and local routes are different. It is difficult to ply the buses of the long route on the local route. The drivers are finding it difficult to maneuver these buses.

There is also a difference in the revenue generation by the buses on the two routes. The buses on the long route fetch around Rs 30,000 a day while those on the local routes fetch Rs 7,000 to Rs 8,000. With buses being shifted to the local routes,it is affecting the revenue being earned by the department.

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