Thane: The Kalyan-Dombivali Municipal Corporation (KDMC) transport department after waiting for more than a year will get 10 German-made electric buses by the end of July. Earlier in June the KDMC had given a contract to London-based Causis Group Ltd (CGL) to purchase 107 electric buses on a wet lease for a 12-year period.
The KDMC has purchased the electric buses with the funds received from the 15th finance commission of the centre.
Deepak Sawant, general manager, KDMT said, "Although there are 141 buses in the fleet of Kalyan-Dombivli transport, 51 of these buses are lying in the depot due to lack of maintenance. So, 90 buses are plying on 38 routes and from this the civic body gets an income of 5 to 6 lakhs per day. 10 of these are Volvo air-conditioned buses. The KDMC has planned to purchase 209 eco-friendly buses from the subsidy received from the central government as well as the state government."
Sawant added, " The London-based company Causis Group Ltd has been given the contract of manufacturing and supplying around 107 electric buses. However, the foreign-made batteries installed in these buses have to be inspected, and its certificate and homologation certificate for the bus has to be obtained from the Central Road Transport Department. This is the reason given by the contractors for the delay in providing the buses.16 buses of the company are ready to be put on the road, but these buses are getting delayed as they have not received the certificate from the central department. But as it is certain to get both these certificates in the next 10 days, an assurance has been given to the municipal commissioner on behalf of the company to give 10 buses of the first phase to KDMT by the end of July. Charge stations will be set up at 67 places by the municipal administration to charge these buses. At present, this has been arranged at the transport depot."
The rout on priority
At present, buses on Bhiwandi, Navi Mumbai, Konkan Bhawan, Vashi, and Badlapur-Ambernath routes are generating the highest income and new buses will also be given priority on this route. However, the passengers are demanding that the buses, which have been waiting for the last one and a half to two years, should be brought soon. Electric buses of Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation are currently being operated in the Kalyan-Dombivali municipal area, and these buses are getting the most preference from passengers. So if these buses are operated by KDMC they can get special preference from passengers.
