BANGALORE: The Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) has many firsts to its credit. It is one of the foremost State Transport Corporations to introduce Volvo buses for intra-city travel. The BMTC also implements regular public motivational programmes like Bus Day and Awards functions. Employing more than 16,000 employees, the BMTC operates 6000 buses everyday in the city.However, the corporation seems to have fallen behind in providing shelter for its fleet. Only 39 depots in the city cater to the parking needs of 6000 buses which according to sources in the BMTC leaves up to 2250 buses stranded every night. These buses are then forced to park off the road near bus stands from where they start every morning. “They make a night halt at the source of their route, the drivers stay in the bus to ensure nothing gets misplaced,” said a BMTC official. While the city is yet to see any cases of buses being stolen or taken for a joyride, theft of spare parts from the buses is quite common. “There are cases where the battery is stolen, but we manage to recover most of them as we have some safeguarding measures in place,” said another official but did not elaborate. While the toll taken on the drivers is a matter of concern, these buses also seem to be causing traffic obstructions in some places. Although this practice is usually taken up in sub urban bus stands, which are located far away from depots and have no choice but to park near the bus stands, these buses nonetheless take up space on the roads leaving lesser space for vehicles to maneuver with. “We are steadily increasing the number of depots and adding up to 6 depots a year, this should help us,” said the Chief Executive Engineer for BMTC.
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