Commuters feel the heat in Bengaluru's AC buses

BENGALURU: With the city's summer getting crueller, commuters who depend on air-conditioned Volvo services operated by the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation are an angry lot. Reason: The cooler effect is dysfunctional in over a hundred air-conditioned buses of 700 plying in the city.

The transport utility operates 583 air-conditioned Volvo buses, 92 air-conditioned Suvarna buses and 25 air-conditioned Corona buses which, together, cater to about 80,000 commuters every day . Three-fourths of these buses were procured in 2013 but commuters want to know why the air-conditioning in many of these buses ­ thanks to lack of maintenance ­ do not work despite the high fares they pay.

Techie Roshan J has decided not to use the Volvo bus route number 500. "I travel every day from HRBR Layout to Silk Board. Riding the bike for 20 km in this heat tired me. I switced to Volvo hoping to travel in an AC bus. I sat there with warm air blowing at me. We can't open the windows either," he said.

A driver on Route 25A (Majestic to BTM Layout) said: "Commuters yell at us thinking we've turned off the AC to save diesel. Some passengers opt to get out of the bus midway. What can we do if there's no maintenance?"

A BMTC mechanical section staffer who was repairing an AC Volvo bus at the Indiranagar depot explained what the problem was: "All AC buses have engines in the rear. The AC pumps - 15 of them - are also in the rear. Only four pumps are functional, so there is no cooling."

Mechanics pointed out that rising mercury levels exert a lot of pressure on the AC and overheated radiators stop functioning as a result of which water is not supplied to the coolant tanks.

"Officers in charge do not purchase new spares to replace the old ones," a source said. There is also a shortage of mechanics. About 30-35 AC buses require repairs every day. A shortage of mechanics means that dust in the blowers is not cleared once every fortnight as required.

BMTC managing director Ekroop Caur acknowledged the problems. "I agree that the AC is not sufficient in Volvo buses because outside temperatures are too high and the bus doors open and close many times," she said. "Those who are used to AC in their cars and offices will not be satisfied. If there are problems with tools and maintenance, I will look into them."