Bus fare collection dips to an all-time low

The Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (Madurai Division) has suffered a huge loss in the form of fare collection since October 30.

According to a reliable source in the Corporation, the average collection per day would be around Rs three crore. Since October 29 night, it had dipped gradually to Rs 2.60 crore and in the last two days, the fare collection had fallen below the Rs. 2 crore per day mark.

The division comprises many southern districts, including Ramanathapuram, Sivaganga, Virudhunagar, Dindigul, Theni and Madurai.

Due to the unrest in Paramakudi and in Pasumpon in Ramanathapuram district last week, the operation of buses in interior villages of Ramanathapuram and Sivaganga was suspended. Similarly, the buses bound for Sivaganga and Karaikudi were also terminated for over two days after October 30 due to road blockade stir by the agitators continuously, which commenced from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., the source said.

Further, when the buses were operated in the last two days, there were incidents of stone pelting, which stalled the smooth flow of the vehicles from one destination to another. Due to this, the trips could not be completed on time, which was essential to achieve the target. These damaged buses remained idle in the respective depots as it had to be replaced with new glasses.

Late departure, which was beyond 6 a.m. had resulted in cutting short the number of trips, which used to be normally operated by the corporation’s buses.

On many occasions, the police had requested the authorities to suspend the night services, which too had added up in the loss of the daily fare collection.

With Deepavali festival around, the TNSTC would be normally operating additional trips to many destinations to clear extra rush. Special services would be plied to towns like Karaikudi, Tirupur, Coimbatore, Tirunelveli et al, and the maintenance/technical wings would be functioning round-the-clock to ensure that the vehicles were kept ready for the next trips. The recent violence had dampened the revenue; the source said.