Thane: Thane Municipal Transport (TMT) has sought for a total fund of Rs.160 crore, from the central government, state government, and the Civic body, with an aim to improve TMT services by increasing the number of buses in its fleet.
"The total Rs.160 crore was proposed which consists, Rs.104 from Central government and Rs.56 crore from State government and Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC). The aforementioned amount has been proposed in recent general body meeting of TMC, which will be majorly utilised for adding more 200 buses and renovating the TMT depots in Thane," said a senior official from TMT.
According to the official, from the total fleet of TMT buses, at present fewer TMT buses are functional in the city and most of them are running on a contract basis.
"It has been noticed that out of 290 buses presently plying through TMT, only 18 to 20 percent of buses are directly run by TMT while remaining run on GCC (Gross Cross Contract) basis. This has highlighted that TMT is more dependent on GCC run buses for its income, while around 70-80 percent of the buses under TMT's fleet are non-functional due to lack minor maintenance," added official.
At present, the TMT services are functional on a total of 104 routes including both feeder and long routes which daily earns around Rs 2.10 lakh. Considering the total population of Thane city, the TMT should consist of 713 buses in its fleet. However, at present, there are around 517 buses in the fleet, out of which half of the buses are non-operational due to lack of maintenance. The TMT will aim to purchase new 200 buses from the above proposed fund.
"As the estimated cost of each bus costs around Rs.50 lakh, for the purchase of 200 buses, total amount of Rs 100 crore would be required to spend. The concerned officials have been instructed to prepare a proper report and to appoint experts in this regard. To get this proposal sanctioned soon it was put forth before the TMC's General body meeting," informed TMT official.
