Mayor objects to use of civic body e-buses outside city limits

Newly-elected city Mayor V.V. Rajesh on Tuesday objected to the operation of Thiruvananthapuram city Corporation’s electric buses outside city limits. At present, the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) is operating some of those buses.

Addressing the issue, Mr. Rajesh alleged that the KSRTC had shifted the Corporation’s e-buses to other parts of the State under pressure from various political leaders. Citing an instance, he said one such bus was found parked at a KSRTC garage in Neyyattinkara, outside the city limits.

“How can a vehicle allotted to the city Corporation be kept at the Neyyattinkara garage,” the Mayor asked, asserting that such practices would not be tolerated.

However, the ruling Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] criticised the Mayor’s decision to recall the buses.

General Education Minister V. Sivankutty dismissed Mr. Rajesh’s remarks, citing a Malayalam proverb commonly used to mock those trying too hard to impress others.

The Thiruvananthapuram Corporation’s e-bus project, implemented under the Smart City Mission, involves the KSRTC operating 113 electric buses within city limits to provide affordable public transport.

The issue comes close on the heels of a controversy involving Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) councillor R. Sreelekha and CPI(M) MLA V.K. Prasanth over the allocation of an office room in a Corporation-owned building. Congress councillor K.S. Sabarinadhan, along with senior Congress leader K. Muraleedharan, had criticised the MLA in connection with that dispute.

The BJP recently won 50 of the 101 divisions in the Corporation elections, ending the Left’s four-decade-long control of the city civic body.