Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:
The municipal commissioner and chief executive officer (CEO) of Aurangabad Smart City Development Corporation Limited (ASCDCL), G Sreekanth, today ordered the officials of Smart City Mission’s bus division to submit a strategic plan to operate Smart City buses uninterruptedly, in the future.
Under the Smart City Mission, the ASCDCL had procured 100 buses (10 kept in reserve) by spending Rs 36 crore. To maintain the bus service uninterruptedly, despite running into losses, the smart city administration deposited Rs 100 crore in the bank for a fixed term of five years. The term has ended in June 2024.
Earlier, the smart city administration deposited Rs 200 crore for a fixed term in the bank and the interest money earned upon it was being used to operate and maintain the smart city bus service. Two years ago, owing to an emergency, the smart city administration withdrew Rs 100 crore and kept Rs 100 crore as a fixed deposit.
According to sources, “The CEO believed that the government aid is meant for utilising on development works not to be kept as a fixed deposit (for five years). Now, the term of FD has ended. Hence he ordered the bus division officials to submit their future operational plan.”
90 buses; 25K passengers
The smart city administration operates 90 buses on different routes in the city. The bus fare is affordable, therefore, the buses are in great demand amongst the citizens. These buses daily complete around 300 trips and around 25,000 passengers shuttle in these buses. It may be noted that these smart city buses will be transferred to the CSMC in the future.