The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) will hold training programmes for drivers and other staffers on fuel conservation.
It plans to save fuel to the tune of Rs 200 crore annually. “We have tied up with leading oil companies like Indian Oil and BPCL and will also seek assistance of Petroleum Conservation Research Association to organise in-house training programmes for our employees,” MSRTC managing director Deepak Kapoor told TOI Online. To begin with, 40,000 drivers plying 17,000 ordinary, semi-luxury and AC Volvos will be trained on how to save fuel while driving.
In the second phase, the fuel clerks__who fill high speed diesel at the filling outlets__will be trained on how to prevent leakages and wastage of fuel. “It will be a comprehensive training. Besides, we are also installing automated diesel dispensers at 248 outlets across the state,” Kapoor said.
This is perhaps the first time that a state bus corporation is taking such a big initiative in fuel conservation. Said Kapoor, “Another feature of the new service would be the centralised monitoring of fuel at any of our depots from MSRTC headquarters in Mumbai.” Explaining this, he said that the automated dispensers at each of the depots will be linked to a computer and the database of fuel can be monitored from the HQ. “We can keep a real-time check on how many litres of diesel were filled on a particular day at a particular depot and the balance left at our depots every evening,” he stated.
Sources said Kapoor had recently gone to Delhi and sought funding from the Union transport ministry for the project. According to estimates, the investments in the project would come to around Rs 8 crores, but the returns were huge. “The MSRTC wants to create a benchmark to achieve efficiency in fuel conservation,” said Mukund Dhus from the corporation’s publicity department. Sources said that other bus corporations within the state may replicate the model and also install automated devices to save fuel leakage and wastage at the filling outlets. In Mumbai, though majority of BEST buses have switched over to CNG, more than a thousand still ply on diesel.
