Aurangabad, Aug 8:
In a surprising development, the municipal commissioner of Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) and chief executive officer of Aurangabad Smart City Development Corporation Limited (ASCDCL), Abhijeet Chaudhari, in his maiden meeting shocked all the members, by rejecting the proposal of hiring 35 electric buses on rental basis.
Underlining that it is not economically viable, Chaudhari suggested restarting the existing Smart City Bus service with full capacity on priority. The buses are in un-operational condition and parked for the past many months.
To please a handful number of leaders from the then Maha Vikas Aghadi and project concern over the threat to the city's environment, the ASCDCL administration tabled the proposal of hiring the e-buses. Earlier, the proposal was to buy them, but the decision was changed, later on.
Accordingly, the ASCDCL floated the tender and conducted a trial of e-buses from the eligible agencies in the second week of July. The trial was held in presence of a third party - the Central Institute of Road Transport. Later on, the ASCDCL management geared up to start the process of opening the final bid.
Meanwhile, the CEO Chaudhari conducted a review meeting of the Smart City buses on Monday. When the issue of electric buses came up for discussion, he gave the above orders.
The sources also hinted that the proposal of operating and plying five double-decker buses in the city is likely to be also shelved at the present situation.
The CEO took cognizance of the news published in Daily Lokmat highlighting that the ASCDCL is sustaining heavy losses as only 35 buses, out of 100 buses, are plying on the road in the city, presently.
Besides, the ASCDCL is also alleged to not operate the smart city buses at full capacity citing various reasons. It is also striving to recoup the financial loss it has sustained due to the non-operation of the buses. Taking cognizance of the news, the CEO took the ASCDCL officials to task and gave necessary instructions.