: The Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) will subject a recently-procured fleet of thousands of private buses to a day-long maintenance exercise in a bid to minimise possibilities of break downs and smooth functioning to cater to the added rush on Monday.
A senior Transport Department official said that 2,000 buses culled from private vendors and schools, to be operated especially to cater to 1.5 lakh commuters under the Paryavaran Bus Seva, were scheduled to be put through several maintenance drills throughout Sunday.
The official said that the DTC wanted to nip breakdowns, between 600 to 800 of which mar the performance of its existing fleet on a daily basis, given the aggravated rush of commuters expected to avail its services when vacationing Delhiites return for a usual business day.
Apart from breakdowns – to curtail which the government is yet to initiate the process of in-house maintenance despite its intent to do so for several months now – the government has asked the DTC to ensure that its fleet is in top-notch condition to operate at a frequency ranging from two to five minutes during rush hours.
The public transporter said more than 38 lakh commuters opted for its buses on the first day of the odd-even road rationing scheme on Friday. The DTC claimed as many as 5,700 of its vehicles including the 2,000 private buses plied on the streets.
