BRTC runs with rundown buses

The government imported 428 buses from India three years ago, which were supposed to last 12 years, but most of them are already rundown due to reckless driving and poor maintenance.

The buses bought for Tk 266 crore with Indian credit include 290 double-deckers, 88 air-conditioned single-deckers, and 50 articulated buses (bendy buses). Each double-decker had cost Tk 72 lakh, each single-decker AC bus cost Tk 68 lakh and each articulated bus cost Tk 1.11 crore, according to BRTC officials.

Imported by state-run Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC), the buses were operating in the capital and on different routes in the country.

This correspondent visited Kamalapur, Mirpur and Kalyanpur depots of BRTC to see the buses. The buses were operational but most of them were in dilapidated condition.

The shabby condition of buses plying the street at Shahbagh in the capital. Photo: Rashed Shumon

Dents, scrapes and damage were everywhere on their bodies. Many had their mirrors, windows, interior lights, indicator lights and headlights broken.

Seats were shabby. Some had become loose from their mountings.

A dozen of the buses in each of the depots were seen being repaired.

“It is hard to believe that the expensive buses will be in such conditions in two to three years,” said a passenger who was travelling on a BRTC bus at Mirpur on Wednesday. Several others echoed him.

Another passenger, Sabbir Hossain, who was travelling to Tongi from Farmgate, said, "When the BRTC buses started plying the streets, they were very nice. But a few days later they became dirty due to lack of maintenance."

Hard to believe the vehicles are only three years old. Photo: Rashed Shumon

Some drivers of the buses blamed the authorities for not properly maintaining the buses. If such situation continued and maintenance was not done properly, the buses would go off the roads within the next couple of years, they said.

Many believe the drivers were primarily responsible for the buses being in such a poor state but the drivers deny it. “The way drivers drive the buses, it is natural that the vehicles will get scratches and dents,” said a driver, wishing anonymity.

A BRTC driver who drives on Mirpur-Motijheel route said at the Mirpur bus depot, the buses seem over 10 years old.

Officials of the BRTC, which many believe to be corruption-riddled, were tight-lipped about how the buses became so battered.

BRTC General Manager (technical) SA Karim, responsible for maintenance, refused to comment while Assistant General Manager (operations) Almas Ali claimed that all the Indian buses were in operation but some buses were taken off the streets temporarily for repairs.

The worn-out and damaged buses of BRTC running on the streets near Shahbagh in the capital. The buses were bought only three years ago with a lifespan of 12 years. Photo: Rashed Shumon

Sources in the state-run body said negligence in repairs and maintenance coupled with misappropriation of funds allocated for the buses were the main reasons behind the poor state of the buses.

A former BRTC official said whenever the corporation faces fund crisis; its top officials asked the management to run buses to increase revenue. “Then the buses make frequent trips and without any maintenance, which is another reason for the buses being in such a poor condition,” he told The Daily Star.