The last three years have been pretty difficult for the Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Ltd (PMPML). Various plans of the PMPML which were chalked out in order to improve the conditions of the city transport have remained on paper.

In one of the recent plans, the PMPML had planned to hire 200 buses from the private companies in Pune.  This plan seems to have melted in thin air. The PMPML authorities had felt that the plan was excellent. Many private companies, organizations and educational institutes in the city own their own vehicles for the conveyance of their employees and students. These vehicles are used only for a certain period during the day.

The PMPML had prepared a plan to hire these private buses so that they could be utilized for public transport especially in the peak hours of the day. However, the plan could not be materialized as the rates quoted by the vehicle agencies were not affordable for the Mahamandal.

Mr. Satish Kulkarni, PMPML’s Joint Managing Director was talking to the correspondents on Monday. He said, “The plan was feasible and practical; but the agencies offering to provide such private vehicles quoted very high rates which were not affordable for the PMPML.”

The Mahamandal also wanted to redevelop bus terminals on build, operate and transfer basis. However the plan has remained pending for almost a year now. A number of procedural formalities have slowed down the process.

The transport body has asked the Pune Municipal Corporation as well as the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation to approve 2.5 FSI for the bus depots in order to provide additional facilities like parking space for the commuters.

The proposal is still to be approved by the civic administration and then by the State Government. Till then this ambitious project will remain stand still.

The Pune Municipal Transport and the Pimpri-Chinchwad Municipal Transport were merged to form a single transport company. This body has managed to get a meager number of 150 buses out of the 650 in all sanctioned under the JNNURM.

The design of these buses has been the topic of hot debates and controversies over the past one and a half years. This has delayed the procurement of the buses. The storm of controversies seems to have settled down now and the PMPML authorities think that the delivery of the new buses will start by the month of October.

Many more things had been planned by the PMPML earlier. Certain routes in the city were to be given to the private transporters; special buses only for women were to be started; the routes were to be rationalized and a vision plan was to be prepared anticipating the needs of the future.

In a shocking setback to the PMPML the PCMC has stopped the financial assistance of Rs. 12 crore per annum to the transport body. This amount which was supposed to be given for three years was a kind of a financial support to the newly formed transport company. The PMPML authorities are now in search of a new option to raise their funds.

All in all the PMPML is facing a number of problems in materializing all its plans.

- Yogesh Sapre