Bad roads, fuel prices force 1,400 buses off road in a year: Operators Body official

Kochi: About 1,400 privates buses have deserted the roads in the state, mainly because of rising fuel costa and unmotorable roads.

This is based on the the number of permit surrender applications receied by the Transport Department from 18 June to 30 June 2017. There is also the statistic that over a period of seven years, 21,400 private buses opted to stay off the road.

The causes to which this trend is attribtued are price increase of accessories and increased tax. The highest number of permit cancellations are reported from Ernakulam and Thrissur, closely followed by Pathanamthitta and Kannur.

Plying on damaged roads causes loss of time and increased wear and tear thus causing loss. Costs that rose in recent times also include diesel price hike on a daily basis, higher insurance premium, fair wages, and price of tyre, spare parts and lube oil.

Further, more passengers have been switching to two wheelers. Other private modes of transport are also coming on the roads which affects daily revenue, said Treasurer of Bus Operators Federation Hamza Erikkunnan. As example, he cited the case of three permits that were surrendered in Kozhikode district inone day recently. And in Pathanamthitta district, a bus operators has put up for sale 12 of his coached, said Hamza.

As per the findings of the Justice Ramachandran Commission, appointed by the state government to study the state's private transport industry, the number of buses got reduced to 17,600 in 2011 which earlier stood at 21,000. As per the bus operators' figures it further got reduced to 14,000 in 2017, but the transport Department puts the figure at 12,600.