PANJIM: So, what’s a little bit of sweat when the need of the moment is to send AC buses, for which many Goans have paid to commute, to those landing at Mopa by flight or coming as delegates for the G 20 meeting? Instead of spending a little more to hire AC buses, why not just pull out those meant for ordinary Goans? After all, they are used to the heat.
KTC currently has 51 EV buses of which 36 are attached to the Margao Depot and the rest to the Panjim and Porvorim depots.
Of these 13 buses are allotted to the Margao-Panjim-Vasco-Mapusa shuttle service and 37 on local routes like Panjim, Porvorim, Sanvordem, Bicholim, Valpoi and Karwar.
One bus has been reserved for trial, testing, and emergency purposes.
From the local routes, six trips (not six buses) have been diverted to the Mopa International Airport leading to a spill over deficiency in the local routes.
But for the next 10 days, ten buses have been pulled out of the total fleet for the G20 summit of world leaders.
As O Heraldo reported Tuesday, the diversion of buses to the Mopa airport and for G20 meetings has upset the EV bus schedule of local as well as shuttle services.
KTC has pressed diesel buses on the routes according to requirements. Depot Manager of Margao Girish Gaude said, “People want air-conditioned buses for the comfort they provide in travelling. We had requested 100 buses from the Centre which on arrival will suffice the surge in demand.”
“While managing the fleet, the vehicles from Margao-Panjim route won’t be removed. I have added four vehicles at the peak hours, which has reduced the load on the buses during peak hours,” he added.
