BEST buses to be dry cleaned

Undertaking will not clean bus interiors with water to ensure electronic gadgets are not damaged

BEST buses to be dry cleaned

Undertaking will not clean bus interiors with water to ensure electronic gadgets are not damaged

The bad news: you may just have to travel in BEST buses strewn with litter and spattered with paan stains. The good news: the LCD screen and radios will be working.

Senior officials from the undertaking's engineering department have shot off letters to depot managers instructing them to refrain from washing the interiors of the buses with water.
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BEST officials have instructed depot managers to refrain from washing the interiors of the buses with water as it damages gadgets like radios, CCTV cameras and LCD screens

They justify the move saying doing so damages the electronic gadgets inside the bus including CCTV cameras, radios and LCD screens.

Nearly 4,700 BEST buses in the city have radios, CCTV cameras and global positioning systems installed in them. Officials said washing the buses with water affects these gadgets.

Confirming the move, Ravi Raja, BEST committee member, said, "Authorities have instructed us not to wash the buses with water as it affects the electronic equipment."

"We have found that these electronic tools don't work properly," said a BEST official, on condition of anonymity.
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"The defects developed because of contact with water rob the passengers of entertainment and hurt the undertaking's reputation."

Passengers, too, have often complained of the inconvenience caused to them because of display boards and other gadgets not working.

"I have noticed several times how the LCD screens only display random moving images with static. Even the smart card machines inside the buses don't function."

Placement

The official said that BEST has spoken to suppliers of buses change the placement of electronic gadgets to ensure they are not damaged by water. Several attempts to contact BEST's general manager proved futile.