Nagpur: About 203 Aapli Buses of Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) are sitting idle and not running on roads leaving the commuters in a fix. Nagpur’s population is now about 30 lakh and a seamless city bus service is crucial to meeting the expectations of public transport.
According to a response by the NMC to an RTI query posed by city activist Abhay Kolarkar, the total strength of the city bus fleet is expected to be 662, but of them 30 were scrapped. Further, seven were gutted and one was met with an accident. At present, the NMC has just 624 buses that ply on different routes catering to the needs of Nagpurians.
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Thursday 13 March 2025
As per the Transport Department, 44 electric buses are plying on the roads as their chargers are available. But, 22 electric buses still remain in depots as they are not equipped with the chargers. Present model of plying of city buses is that NMC provides revenue to four operators appointed by it through a bidding system. The present fleet of city buses is not adequate to meet the needs of citizens as they feel more numbers can provide them quick access to public transport.
Maximum load on city buses is on longer routes, Sitabuldi to Butibori, Dighori to Sitabuldi, Sitabuldi to Kamptee-Kanhan, Sitabuldi to Kalmeshwar, Inner Ring Road-Pardi to Hingna and so on. Within the city the movement of city buses are in far less numbers leaving citizens to opt for personal two and four wheelers. Unlike the metros, city bus service is yet to be an inseparable part of public transport as people are still not used to it.
Another reason is that city buses are still not covering important junctions like railway station, Nagpur main station and also Ajni and Itwari stations. Several long stretches of city still lack bus connectivity and at other places the non-sticking to fixed time table means citizens do not have any idea as to plying of buses. With the advent of the metro, a number of citizens have switched over to it but still many places are still dependent on city buses for their daily movement.
230 bus stops relocated in four years!
A glance at the utility of public funds on part of NMC would come as a shocker, as nearly 230 bus stops were shifted from their original places. During the four year period from April 1, 2021 to May 20, 2024, the civic body was forced to relocate the bus stop as they were found to be useless and unnecessary where they were first built. So, the question arises whether a proper survey was done before zeroing in on the site.
Similarly, there is a question whether those many bus stops were really required in the first place. So, first money that went into erection and then again in shifting has gone down the drains. Who is responsible for the mess? As to the question of electric charging stations, the NMC said the infrastructure is not ready yet. Currently, the four operators are charging the electric buses at their depots.
