E-Paper
PMPML scrapped 610 buses, earned ₹13.38 crore in revenue
The Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) has scrapped 610 buses in the past two years, earning ₹13.38 crores. The administration has decided to scrap buses after 12 years of service instead of 10 to address the depletion of the fleet.
In the past two years, the Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) has scrapped 610 buses – 449 out of which were auctioned – earning a revenue of ₹13.38 crores during the transaction. According to the PMPML administration, the buses were scrapped between January 2020 and December 2022 during which time, 358 new buses were added to the depleted fleet.
However, with an increase in the number of buses being scrapped, the administration has come up with a new policy wherein it has been decided to scrap PMPML buses after 12 and not 10 years of service when they have travelled 8.40 lakh kilometres over a lifetime of service. The move comes in the wake of the directors’ body recently deciding to buy more CNG-operated buses, commissioning new routes, and the new bus scrapping policy.
Currently, the PMPML has 2,089 buses out of which 325 buses are more than 10 years old and were scheduled to be scrapped which would have led to further depletion of the fleet. The committee has reasoned that due to the high number of transport buses being scrapped, the addition of new buses to the fleet is less, which has forced them to bring in the new policy.
The state Regional Transport Authority had issued a directive that barring Mumbai, the transport buses in all districts and cities would be scrapped only after they completed 12 years of service. However, the PMPML general body in 2020 had ruled that the buses would be scrapped after 10 years of service. The PMPML PRO office in a statement had said that revenues earned through the scrapping of old buses would be used for the upgradation of PMPML infrastructure including purchasing new buses.
