Week after launch,low-floor bus breaks down

The CTU bus (CH01GA 5015),under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) scheme,running on route number 1A,broke down near the railway station and IT Park lightpoint on Madhya Marg. On its way to the Housing Board Chowk,the vehicle suddenly stopped around 12 noon. Nearly 30 passengers were asked to alight the bus which could not be started even after repeated attempts by the bus staff.

“It is surprising that the bus broke down all of a sudden even though they were introduced only on March 3,” complained a passenger. Soon,the Chandigarh traffic police were roped in for assistance,but the attempt turned out to be futile as efforts to move the bus to the CTU workshop at ISBT-43 with the help of a crane failed.

“There is no place where we can hook in the crane. If we do so,the bumper of the bus will get damaged,” said a traffic police officer at the site.

“We have failed to detect the problem. A mechanic has been called from the workshop. If he also can’t figure it out,then we would be left with the option but to take the bus to the workshop by any means,” said the driver. He was accompanied by two other CTU staff members.

After almost two hours,the staff and traffic police heaved a sigh of relief when the bus started. The exact cause of the breakdown could not be ascertained.

Tata fined Rs 4 crore for delay
The Administration claimed to have imposed a penalty of more than Rs 4 crore on Tata Motors because of the delay in delivering buses. It is said that by the end of March,the remaining 40 (out of the total 60 low-floor non air-conditioned buses) would also start plying on city roads.

Overhauling responsible for hold-up: Administration
Justifying the long delay in procuring the 100 buses,under JNNURM,the UT Administration made repeated claims that the new buses were being overhauled. The first phase of the project was scheduled to start in September last year. Even after the first lot arrived in the city,it took more than a month for Tata Motors to officially hand over these to the UT Administration. The buses finally started plying last Wednesday. The buses are similar to the ones running in Delhi that have reported several technical snags and a few even caught fire.