57% of city fleet comprises ageing buses from other depots

Mysore/Mysuru: People opting for public transport in Mysuru city are being forced to travel in rickety and highly polluting KSRTC buses dumped from other depots, triggering widespread resentment and concern over commuting standards in the Heritage City.

Several KSRTC buses are visibly old, uncomfortable and poorly maintained. Many commuters complain of tattered seats, shaky rides and thick smoke billowing from the exhaust, contributing significantly to air pollution.

Shockingly, some buses still carry ‘Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC)’ branding and registration numbers of Bengaluru depots, underlining the shortage of new buses.

BS-III buses continue to operate

A number of these buses are BS-III models, which emit far more pollutants than the now-mandatory BS-VI standard buses. As per current emission norms, only BS-VI vehicles are permitted to ensure reduced pollution.

Many of the buses brought from Bengaluru depots appear freshly painted but retain their original registration numbers, clearly indicating they are not new additions but refurbished ones.

In some cases, buses even retain the original BMTC white-and-blue colour scheme, while others are hastily repainted fully blue before being dumped in Mysuru.

Ironically, these ageing buses are not limited to short intra-city routes. Several of them are deployed on long and demanding routes, including Chamundi Hill, Infosys campus, KRS Dam and other outskirts accessed through the Outer Ring Road, raising serious safety and reliability concerns.

Social activist Ravi Keerthi alleged that Mysuru has effectively become a dumping ground for old buses that have completed more than 10 years of long-distance operations in Bengaluru.

“Many of these buses have been used extensively for 10 to 12 years. Apart from emitting huge amounts of smoke, there are instances of water leaking from the roof during rain. Mysuru urgently needs new BS-VI buses and cannot be treated as a graveyard for worn-out buses,” he said.

57% of city buses are hand-me-downs

As per Right to Information (RTI) data obtained from the KSRTC, Mysuru has four KSRTC depots — Nanjangud, Kuvempunagar, Sathagalli and Vijayanagar — operating a total of 540 buses manufactured and registered between 2010 and 2024.

Between 2010 and 2014, the four depots together received 272 buses, accounting for 50.4 percent of the total fleet.

From 2015 to 2019, Mysuru got 190 buses (35.2 percent). In the period from 2020 to 2025, only 78 buses were added, constituting a mere 14.4 percent.

Notably, Mysuru received just seven buses each in 2020 and 2023, while a bulk of 64 buses were added in 2024.

Besides, the data obtained from the Regional Transport Office (RTO)  reveals that of the 540 buses in Mysuru, only 230 buses (42.6 percent) are registered locally under the KA-09 series, indicating new allocations.

The remaining 57.4 percent — the lion’s share of the fleet — comprises buses transferred from other districts and cities.

These include seven buses from Bengaluru Central (KA-01 series), 122 from Chamarajanagar (KA-10), 24 from Mandya (KA-11), 30 from Chikkaballapura (KA-40), 46 from Ramanagara (KA-42) and as many as 75 buses from Bengaluru Urban BMTC (KA-57). The remaining buses have been sourced from depots such as Mangaluru (KA-19), Hunsur (KA-45) and K.R. Puram in Bengaluru (KA-53).

‘New buses expected in March-April’

We operate a mix of BS-III, BS-IV and BS-VI standard buses. We are not receiving old buses from other bus stations or depots. If BS-III buses are found emitting smoke, they are identified on priority. A smoke-emission audit is conducted every month using testing equipment. If excessive smoke is detected, the fuel pump is replaced and the smoke-control atomiser is repaired. If the problem persists, the engine is replaced. Vehicles that are more than 15 years old are scrapped. Last year, 118 buses in the Mysuru City Division broke down, while over 80 refurbished buses were inducted. We have scrapped 86 buses and submitted proposals to the KSRTC Central Office seeking 86 new buses. The tender process is currently underway and the new buses are expected to arrive in March-April this year. —H.T. Veeresh, Divisional Controller, KSRTC Mysuru City Division