Aurangabad, May 10:
The central workshop of Chikalthana has been waiting for new chassis required for the construction of new Steel buses for the last 3 years. Work has been started to convert the regular parivartan buses to steel body buses.
The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) has decided to introduce 3,000 e-buses buses in its fleet by the end of this year. The Central government has launched the 'FAME' scheme to include more eco-friendly vehicles in the country's public transport. According to this scheme, concessions are given by the Centre for electric buses.
Under this scheme, 1000 e-buses and 2,000 CNG buses will be introduced in the ST corporation's fleet. The first phase of 150 e-buses will arrive in June. However, the central workshop which has been building new buses for the past several years, is being neglected by the corporation.
Chikalthana workshop has stopped production of regular buses for the last 3 years. Bus construction on the new chassis has stalled and new buses are being built on the chassis of the old regular buses. There is also tremendous shortage of steel, glass windows and other raw materials required for buses.
Construction of 35 buses per month
At present about 35 buses are being constructed in the workshop per month. Kishor Somvanshi, workshop manager, said that there is a sufficient supply of materials at present.