Maratha Agitation: ST services to Aurangabad, Nashik remain suspended

Maratha Agitation: ST services to Aurangabad, Nashik remain suspended

Pune: The quota stir by the Marathas in the city paralysed the state transport bus service and private transport service for the second consecutive day. 

The protest, which turned violent in Chakan on Monday, forced MSRTC to suspend the bus services between Pune and Nashik. The PMPML bus service between Pune and Chakan and Rajgurunagar was also cancelled on these two days.

In all, 12 ST buses were set on fire by protesters in Chakan. The transport department suffered a revenue loss of Rs 75 lakh as services remained disrupted. The protest also caused a loss of Rs 50 lakh on account of damage to property. Similarly, protesters set 10 buses afire. Out of these, eight belonged to PMPML, while two belonged to private contractors. Due to this, PMPML lost revenue of Rs 87.30 lakh.

“The buses plying between Pune and Nashik were forcefully halted by the protestors on Monday. We didn’t want to take any risk on Tuesday. We have already suffered heavy losses. We can’t say whether the service will resume on Wednesday,” said a senior official of Pune division.

According to senior officials from MSRTC headquarters in Mumbai, 353 buses were damaged from July 20 to 29.

“The estimated revenue loss amounts to Rs 22.02 crore due to cancellations and short terminations of services between July 20 and 29. Also, 353 buses have been damaged during the agitation in the past nine days. The Solapur division suffered the maximum damage, as 136 buses were damaged, which is valued at Rs 1.45 crore,” said Abhijeet Bhosale, Public Relations Officer, MSRTC.

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