Methods like GPS tracking fail to check incidents of bus theft

Chain buses to safeguard them from thievesu00a0-- that seems to be the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation's (BMTC) new mantra, as bus thefts take a toll on the corporation.

With hi-tech solutions like GPS tracking failing, officials are contemplating making older manual methods, like locking the steering to the bus' bonnet with a heavy chain, mandatory to keep a check on thieves. They say these methods are essential as more than a thousand buses plying in the city don't need keys for ignition and for unlocking the doors.u00a0

This move comes after two cases of buses going missing were reported from Domlur and Upparpet limits in the last week itself.

"Even buses like those from Volvo, which use high-end technology, aren't safe, as ten Volvos can be operated with a single key," said a senior BMTC official. "So the drivers have come up with the idea of chaining the steering wheel with the bonnet. The idea's being considered by the security wing." GG Hegde, public relations officer, BMTC, said, "We are serious. We are contemplating making it mandatory to have either the driver or the conductor staying in the bus or implementing the idea given by drivers to lock the steering to the bonnet."