Shortage of CNG, E-Infra: Out of 107 green buses, only 44 are running
The official has also said that the three red bus operators have not been able to operate the entire fleet of 70 buses running on CNG.
Nagpur: Despite currently having a fleet of 70 CNG and 37 electric buses, Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) is fully capable of operating only 44 of them combined. Reason: Irregular supply of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) and lack of charging points for e-buses.
A senior official of the transport department of NMC has told that NMC has a fleet of more than 380 buses. However, only 300 to 320 buses are running. The official has also said that the three red bus operators have not been able to operate the entire fleet of 70 buses running on CNG at all. The operators are barely able to run 25 buses due to an erratic supply of green fuel. Due to this, Aapli bus service has been affected on many routes, causing inconvenience to the passengers, he accepted.
On Friday, the price of CNG in Nagpur city was Rs 114/kg, which is the highest in the country. Aapli bus operators have also said that the supply of compressed natural gas is very irregular. Requesting anonymity, the operators have stated that they are also facing financial loss due to the non-operationalization of the compressed natural gas fleet.
Hyderabad firm is expected to deliver the remaining nine electric buses
The fate of the electric bus fleet is no different. Earlier this week, a Hyderabad-based electric bus manufacturing company also handed over nine more buses to Nagpur Municipal Corporation. With this, the number of the e-bus fleet has increased to 37 including six women special Tejaswini.
But the civic body could not operate the entire fleet at all as the infrastructure like charging stations – needed to make the buses operational – is not at all ready. Also, the existing charging station at Shrikrishna Nagar in East Nagpur is inadequate and has only six charging points. So, NMC is also operating only 18 electric buses at present.
Very soon, the Hyderabad firm is expected to deliver the remaining nine electric buses. Although the work of setting up charging stations in the Wadi is almost complete, one electricity substation has not been made operational at all. The official also said that till this does not happen, NMC will not be able to operate the entire electric bus fleet at all. For the remaining work, the Nagpur Municipal Corporation will have to completely stop vehicular traffic on the Nagpur-Amravati highway for at least half an hour to lay the electric cable. This depot can also start functioning after getting the NOC from NHAI, the officer said.
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