The GSRTC will need a whopping Rs 57 lakh just to repair the depot, while it needs to replace at least 225 buses and repair all the 700 buses trundling through the city.

Then what are they waiting for? Money. The resource crunch has been crippling the public transport and the situation shows no signs of improvement. Vadodara divisional controller P K Patel admits the services could go from bad to worse. On options, he says the buses cannot be taken off for repairs in absence of alternative transport, while spare buses in the yard too call for repairs and can be sparingly used.

Patel kept mum when asked about the funds available for maintenance and the daily income. But reliable sources say the State Government provides a paltry Rs 12 lakh a year for repairs and the Vadodara division earns as much a day. Asked if this revenue wasn't adequate, the sources said part of it had to be remitted to the Government and funds are needed even to meet establishment expenditure. The sources say almost the entire fleet has run more than the stipulated 12 lakh km and the condition of the buses is such that even temporary repairs would not cost less than Rs 12 lakh.

And this is the reason the authorities are toying with the idea of partly privatising the city services. A senior official told Express Newsline that repeated reminders to the State Government to release funds to help improve the situation had fallen on deaf ears. Patel attributes the erratic service to frequent breakdowns and bad roads, and denies any mismanagement on that score.

What commuters say
Jignesh Jani, a final year student of the Faculty of Science of the M S University: ``It is difficult for the students who want to travel after 7 pm. Most of the buses do not keep the schedule''.

Pragnya Shah, a commuter: ``The services from Nyay Mandir to the station have always been better, but those toward Manjalpur and Makarpura are worse''.

Nila Joshi, Makarpura: ``Often the buses fail to keep the scheduled arrival time of 6 pm at the depot and we are forced to go home by autorickshaws''.