PUNE: With the continued disruption in rail traffic between Pune and Mumbai due to landslides and fear of falling boulders, commuters largely depended on road travel on Monday. Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) plied additional buses, which were also delayed due to rains and waterlogging on the Pune-Mumbai highway and Expressway.
MSRTC operated 45 additional buses from Pune Station and Swargate to Dadar on Monday, taking stranded passengers to Mumbai, MSRTC officials said.
“Since July 23, we have been operating additional buses almost every day as trains are getting cancelled and short-terminated on a daily basis. Earlier, it was only because of the repair work. Now, in addition to that, it’s happening because of rain-related issues. On Monday, we operated 30 buses from Pune station in addition to the usual services of 70 daily. From Swargate, 12 additional buses were sent to Dadar considering the rush,” said Yamini Joshi, Divisional Controller (Pune), MSRTC.
MSRTC officials said that operating buses to waterlogged Mumbai was not easy as the buses, going to Mumbai often get delayed for many hours.
“We are arranging buses from smaller depots on the outskirts such as Bhor, Talegaon and Saswad to operate on Pune-Mumbai route. Some buses get stuck in Mumbai due to waterlogging and resulting traffic jams,” said Joshi. Besides Mumbai, state transport services on Konkan routes have also been hit.
PMPML HIT
Due to continued heavy rain in the city and Pimpri Chinchwad on Monday, traffic was diverted as five bridges went under water. As many as 450 PMPML buses were affected. The transport utility also cancelled several services.
