Fuel crisis: Lucknow buses may stop operation
Passengers may be in for grave inconvenience if city buses stop operation in Lucknow by end of April. Close to 200 city buses which operate daily on various routes may go off-road due to lack of fuel. Lucknow City Transport Services Limited (LCTSL), the special purpose vehicle created to operate city buses, may not have enough money to buy green fuel for the buses.
LCTSL is the biggest consumer of CNG in Lucknow. It buys 8,000kg CNG daily at about Rs 4.5 lakh. But due to financial loss, the SPV is not able to buy the fuel. It cuts a sorry figure for Lucknow which strives to be a smart city a smart transport.
Sources said that LCTSL has asked Green Gas Limited (GGL), the CNG supplier, to give gas on credit but GGL, on the contrary, has asked for a bank guarantee. Though the meeting of LCTSL and GGL scheduled for Saturday got postponed, sources in the transport department said solution would be worked out.
LCTSL has been incurring loss worth Rs 90 lakh per month for about six month, major reason being change in routes of buses due to construction for Lucknow Metro. Buses now take a longer route. “We have been told to keep our Marcopolo buses off from the route where construction is on,” said sources.
The number of daily passengers has come down drastically from 60,000 to about 30,000. The number of MST holders boarding city buses has also gone down. Earlier, Rs 60 lakh per month was earned by way of issuing Monthly Season Tickets (MSTs), now it is only Rs 35 lakh per month.
Secondly, earlier Charbagh bus depot used to serve a passenger shelter for city bus passengers. Now, UPSRTC has its roadways buses operating from there because Alambagh bus station is closed for construction. “In that case our buses are forced to pick up and drop passengers at Ravindralaya where there is no shelter. Why will passengers wait for buses out in the sun?” said sources.
Unauthorised e-rickshaws running on main routes are more easily and frequently available to passengers than city buses.