Ernakulam DTPC’s plan to procure buses for package tours remains a non-starter

Ernakulam DTPC faces challenges with luxury bus operation, considering selling due to high repair costs and low fuel efficiency.

The uncertainty about the Ernakulam District Tourism Promotion Council (DTPC) operating package tours linking tourist locales in Kochi and neighbouring districts is continuing, what with the council unable to operate even the sole air-conditioned 24-seater luxury bus that has been idling ever since the pandemic.

Many other DTPCs, including in neighbouring districts, resumed their package tours earlier this month in view of the tourist season that kicks off each year with the Onam celebrations. Some of them have even charted tour programmes for the hugely popular backwater boat races in Alappuzha, it is learnt.

Informed sources said that the executive committee of Ernakulam DTPC is set to take a call on either returning the bus to Kerala Tourism or to sell it off, since over ₹8 lakh is needed just to repair the bus, which is currently in a workshop. “It would be tough to operate the bus in a financially viable manner even after investing this high an amount, since its fuel efficiency is a mere 2.5 km per litre of diesel. In this situation, a lookout is on for alternatives, including smaller vehicles, that would need lesser cost of operation and maintenance,” they added.

Earlier this year, the DTPC had sought Kerala Tourism’s permission to sell the bus that was parked on the Durbar Hall Ground that is maintained by the council. Attempts to operate the bus with private participation failed, following audit objection.

The luxury bus that cost ₹50 lakh has push-back seats, refrigerator, coffee maker, audio and video systems, wireless microphone, urinal, and a fire extinguisher. It was part of the fleet of three such buses purchased by Kerala Tourism in 2019 and given to the Kerala Tourism Development Corporation (KTDC), which in turn handed them over to the DTPCs of Ernakulam, Thiruvananthapuram and Thrissur districts. From Ernakulam, they were to operate tour packages to Fort Kochi, Mattancherry, Malayatoor, Cherai, Munambam and Athirapilly.

Meanwhile, Cochin Smart Mission Limited (CSML) has reportedly offered more funds to the DTPC to renovate the Durbar Hall Ground, according to sources. Already, the floor of the open-air auditorium on the ground has been replaced, while plumbing and electrical works too are over. But there is inordinate delay in purchasing a machine to clear weeds on the sprawling ground, it is learnt. Faced with criticism of little being done to clear the weeds despite it being Onam season, the agency deployed workers on Thursday and Friday to clear them. The weeds need to be cleared once every fortnight.