• Majority of them are Marco Polo buses
• 17 scrapped yesterday; another 100 buses in waiting

Mysore/Mysuru: The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), Mysuru Division has scrapped 17 buses, a majority of them are Marco Polo, known for  low-mileage and high-cost maintenance buses. 

Recently, the City Division had condemned 65 buses as they found them unsuitable for use.

Interestingly, a majority of these Marco Polo buses have not even run the mandated 7 lakh to 10 lakh km. They had been stationed in City Depot  for many years due to poor mileage (2 km per litre) and high maintenance cost. 

These rear engine buses were purchased during 2008-2009 as they were low-floor buses most-suited for senior citizens. As it had rear engine which was inconvenient for the commuters of back seats due to heat generated from the engine, it had invited wrath of citizens for emitting excess smoke than other model buses. All these had forced the State Transport Corporation depots to dump these buses.

Recently, several hundred condemned buses were e-auctioned out of which 65 buses belonged to Mysuru Depot and most of them were Marco Polo buses. 

As many as 17 condemned buses without seats and costly spare parts were found parked on Nelson Mandela Road near Bannimantap Depot yesterday, waiting for the contractor to take away these scrapped buses. Another 100 buses are waiting to be scrapped.

In Mysuru Rural Division, it has been decided to scrap 225 buses of which 120 have already been scrapped in the last seven months.