Outages hit charging of PMPML’s e-buses, depots lack power backup

Pune: Over six years after Pune Mahapalika Parivahan Mahamandal Limited lauched e-buses to ferry commuters, the transport body will now start looking for alternatives to ensure that the buses can be charged even if there is a power outage in the areas where the depots are located.

All seven e-bus depots do not have any power backup. On Friday, as many as 50 e-bus trips were cancelled as there was a major power outage for 6-7 hours at Bhekrainagar, affecting one of the e-bus depots. Senior officials said they will look at the arrangements other transport corporations in other states have made to deal with such situations so that it is can be replicated.

“One very obvious option is to use diesel-powered generators. However, the whole idea behind e-buses is to promote green energy and reduce air pollution. Amid this, using them as a power backup option for the e-bus depots doesn’t fit and is not principally correct. We will check other options and will implement them,” Mahesh Awhad, CMD of the transport body, told TOI.

Another PMPML official said the issue was a persistent one but had become serious of late. “The number of e-buses has gradually seen a rise. There are 535 e-buses parked at seven depots with charging facilities. By next year, 1,000 more e-buses will join the fleet. When the numbers were fewer, we managed to tide over incidents of power outages, but now we have more buses and outages have also increased manifold. Friday’s incident at Bhekrainagar depot was the result of road digging which snapped the underground MSEDCL cable. This year, the summer has been brutal and the number of power outages was also up,” the official said.

Other depots catering to e-buses include Charoli, Nigdi, Pune station, Wagholi, Baner and Balewadi. “The best solution which we implement is to transfer the buses to any of these depots in case of power cuts. But this takes time and the schedule is affected. We have been doing it for years now but with the routes and schedules increasing, better and more effective measures are needed. The transport body has been talking about ensuring that buses are on time and that schedules are not cancelled. If we have to keep up to our assurances, a permanent solution has to come to fore,” the official said.

On full charge, these e-buses can cover a distance of 200-225km. There have been several complaints about e-buses breaking down resulting in the charge getting over because of traffic problems in the city. The PMPML has introduced a system where the buses can come to the depot between trips (during the driver’s break time or during shift change) and charge for some time. “However, if power is a problem and there is no backup, how will they charge? It will lead to the buses stopping between trips. There are plans to introduce fast chargers in the depots but backup power is needed now,” the official said.

PMP Pravasi Manch activist and a regular commuter Sanjay Shitole said that the system should have been in place long ago. “It is strange that power backup is not here even though e-buses were launched in 2019. The transport utility needs to work on this facility immediately,” he said.