Bus purchase: PMPML,PMC tug-of-war continues

There has been no breakthrough in resolving the controversy on purchasing buses for the Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Ltd.

There has been no breakthrough in resolving the controversy on purchasing buses for the Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Ltd (PMPML) despite the intervention of the state government,which called a meeting on Friday to look into the matter.

The high-level meeting of PMPML officials was called by officers in the Mantralaya. It has been decided to ask the Central Institute of Road Transport (CIRT) to study the technicalities of the buses to be purchased considering the development of Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) routes in PCMC and PMC areas, said senior civic officer.

The PMC and PCMC had received funds to purchase of 550 buses under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Mission (JNNURM). The plan has got stuck after the PMC raised objections on the PMPMLs move to purchase buses with doors on both sides of the bus.

The officer said that the CIRT report on advantages and disadvantages of using buses with doors on both sides on BRTS route will be studied along with the buses running on BRTS lane in Ahmedabad.

The elected representatives in PMC had opposed the PMPML move of purchasing buses with doors on both sides saying that it was not as per the detailed project report submitted to the union government while seeking funds.

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