Chennai: The automatic bus wash plants installed in 34 Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) depots some years ago to wash buses are in a shambles. Reliable sources say that around 3,000 MTC buses have never undergone water-wash for the last three years while commuters complain that garbage and dust are littered inside the buses.
Sources said that even as the MTC purchased such equipment for undertaking water washes in all 34 depots, around 20 such plants remain dysfunctional. Officials have failed to attend to repairing works.
As a result, MTC buses have become dirty with dust settling everywhere, both inside and outside.
K. Natarajan, treasurer, Labour Progressive Federation, attributed this issue to lack of maintenance of washing plants. “No buses undergo water wash nowadays. Water-wash should be done during rainy seasons as there is possibility of muddy water being splashed on window panes and the chassis,” he said. Such dirty buses have left a bitter taste in passengers.
“It is a fact that the MTC buses were water-washed and all those buses were neat and clean about five years ago. Today, passengers are reluctant to sit on the shaky seats that have dust. Further, window panes in the buses are stuck with sticky mud during the rainy season. I am at a loss as to why the transport department has failed to focus on this issue,” said a mechanic in an MTC bus depot.
When contacted by Deccan Chronicle, Anbu Abraham, Managing Director of MTC, said, “The MTC is focusing on the cleaning issue. We have formed a committee which will check every depot whether buses are undergoing water-wash.” He also added that officials have been instructed to check buses randomly and take action against staff who fail to cleaning the buses.
