Purchase of new buses

The road transport minister has said that the BRTC will purchase 600 new buses. He has also said that this year the BRTC will run 900 additional buses across the country to ensure smooth journeys during the upcoming Eid-ul-Fitr.

While it is a good idea to put on road almost double the number of BRTC buses currently operating for a specific occasion like Eid, which is still nearly four weeks away, what about ameliorating the present situation when the number of buses on the roads in the capital cannot serve the great rush for home for Iftar? Those two hours before Iftar is the most critical which the administration should address.

Secondly, where will the 900 additional buses come from? Are they available with BRTC? If so then why not run them during the peak period of the Ramadan month? If not, can the new deal be done and dusted and the 900 buses put on road before the impending Eid? And this leads one to ask what the administration is doing about the nearly 500 buses lying in various degree of disrepair in the 19 BRTC depots all over the country, as has been reported in a leading Bangla daily. It is pertinent to ask as to how many of these buses are beyond economic repair. And why they have not been repaired and put into operation.

While there is need for more public transport, and the government should take the lead in this regard, the despicable condition of the BRTC buses makes one wonder if there is any practice at all of maintenance and repair? Purchasing new buses is a convenient way to meet shortfalls. But this could be avoided and public money saved if the fleet of buses was looked after properly.