VIJAYAWADA: Transport Minister Sidda Raghava Rao has stressed the need to conserve the sparse fuel resources available.
Addressing a meeting organised on Wednesday to mark conclusion of the month-long Oil and Gas Conservation Awareness Drive (OGCAD) and reward RTC drivers, mechanics, and other technical staff who contributed towards the cause, the Minister said fuel conservation was key to development of the transport sector.
CNG buses
The Minister said petroleum products had assumed greater importance in the wake of the widening gap between the demand and supply from indigenous sources.
Mr. Raghava Rao said the APSRTC had spent a whopping ₹1,352 crore on 26 crore litres of diesel used to operate the fleet of buses in 2015-16. “It is, therefore, imperative to focus on fuel conservation,” he reiterated. Referring to the 100 CNG buses launched in Vijayawada in 2006 to save fuel, he pointed to the fact that the number of vehicles had increased to 311 in 2011. To further reduce the operational costs, the APSRTC was experimenting with use of bio-diesel.
He said that as part of the drive, the RTC had kicked off special campaigns like exhibiting slogans at all depots and workshops to spread word far and wide and making mechanics and drivers active part to ensure rectification of possible defects in clutch, brakes, and injectors in all depots.
Oil and gas companies like IOCL, HPCL, BGL, Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland, Eicher, Volvo, Isuzu, and Bosch were engaged to educate garage staff and supervisors.
At the regional level, quiz competitions were organised involving drivers and mechanics on bus chassis and fuel system manufacturers and at the zonal lever, an elocution contest was conducted on ‘Fuel Conservation—Role of Drivers’ at all the zonal staff training colleges and the best three drivers given prizes.
And, at the State-level, five best drivers from each region were felicitated at a grand function based on their contribution to fuel-saving in 2015-16.
In all, 100 staff members received awards in different categories.
Vice-chairman and managing director of the corporation M. Malakondaiah, HPCL executive director (Mumbai) Rajneesh Mehta, and executive directors of the transport corporation were present.
