19 DTC bus depots mark ‘Zero Breakdown Day’

On September 4, Chief General Manager A K Goyal had issued a circular informing all the depots that depots that achieve zero breakdowns on September 14 will be awarded a certificate of commendation. “All depot managers and service providers may, therefore, strengthen the preventive maintenance during the next ten days so as to achieve zero breakdown on September 14, 2015,” the circular read.

[related-post]

According to DTC officials, the low-floor buses run by the corporation report about 300 breakdowns per day on an average while the standard floor buses report between 75 and 100 breakdowns in a day. The bus manufacturers, who maintain them, have to pay a penalty of Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,000 per breakdown, a DTC official said.

“Bus breakdowns cause traffic snarls in a number of places in the city. The traffic police is equipped with cranes to move buses that break down, however, they were not aware of how a bus can be moved to the side of a main road by unlocking its brakes. Last week we also held a training workshop for traffic police officers to remove buses,” said a DTC official.

He added that it is important that the traffic police is also equipped to move the buses because if the DTC staff takes time to reach the spot, traffic will be hauled up on the road. “Before the bus is taken away by a crane, it can at least be moved to the side of the road so that traffic movement is not disrupted for a long time,” the official said.

DTC officials said the traffic police had issued a number of traffic congestion warnings on account of DTC buses breaking down. “We decided to have a ‘zero breakdown day’ for the first time so that buses are well-maintained and people are not inconvenienced,” said an official.

The exact number of breakdowns on Monday, officials said, will be known after midnight after all the buses clock in their running hours.

However, until 3 pm, buses from 19 depots reported no breakdowns and will receive certificates from Managing Director C R Garg.

The 19 depots that reported no breakdowns included Subhash Place Depot, Rohini Depot-I, Rohini Depot-III, Nangloi Depot, Narela Depot, Kalkaji Depot, Sukhdev Vihar Depot, Millennium Depot-IV and Ghazipur Depot.