Pune: A plethora of problems came to the fore when Chairman and Managing Director of Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) Nayana Gunde visited the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) on Nagar Road on Tuesday.
Damaged railings, inadequately lit corridors, damaged bollards, etc. were few of the problems which needed immediate attention and repairs, besides proper maintenance.
Interestingly, in January this year, then CMD Tukaram Mundhe had said that if private vehicles enter BRTS lanes, the vehicle will be confiscated and auctioned. However, his trick did not work as even after two months of his directives, the situation has remained the same. Civic activists and PMP Pravasi Manch also raised several issues regarding non-functioning of various systems on the route.
The BRTS Repair and Maintenance Committee was set up on March 20 by Kunal Kumar, Commissioner of Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC). The committee consists of Ajay Charthankar, Joint Managing Director of PMPML DB Mane, Traffic Manager of PMPML, Bharat Mohite, Executive Engineer, PMC Road Department, Chandrashekhar Akware, Executive Engineer, PMC Road Department, two members from PMC's Electric Department, Qaneez Sukhrani, civic activist, Jugal Rathi, PMP Pravasi Manch and Pranali Deshpande, ITDP consultant.
During the visit, the team found six major problems and decided to fix them with April 30 as the deadline. "We have been raising these issues with PMC and as well as with PMPML authorities. The BRTS is for passengers and not for private vehicles. On Tuesday, when Gunde visited with the committee, they assured that these are major issues and will be resolved soon," Sukhrani told Sakal Times.
"We asked them to replace the damaged railings, corridor lights, damaged bollards, RFID tags for entry of buses, new designed speed breakers, new designed signboards, zebra crossings, seats and to remove illegal stalls near the BRTS routes," said Sukhrani.
Officials of PMPML said that the issues have been noted and it will be resolved soon. "We visited the routes and found many things which need repair and maintenance on urgent basis. We will establish communication with the Pune traffic police, including DCP (Traffic) Ashok Morale, towards finding a proper solution to the issue of private vehicles entering the BRTS lanes. It is a major problem, but PMPML doesn't have the authority to confiscate vehicles," said an official.
