Space-starved PMPML loses parking plot

“We need the plot as we are facing a space crunch. We had registered our objection to changing the reservation. Despite it,this has happened. We are completely in the dark about this,” said PMPML joint managing director Satish Kulkarni.

PMPML officials say they had registered objections with the Pune Municipal Corporation and the Deputy Director of Town Planning. officials of the transport body,however are not directly blaming the PMC as being behind the move. “We have no clue who is behind the move. Who and how it was done,we can’t say,” officials said.

When contacted,PMC Additional City Engineer Vivek Kharawadkar confirmed that the plot has been converted into a parking space for citizens. “We have received the government resolution. On Monday,I will provide the entire process as to how it came about,” he said.

Civic activist Prashant Inamdar of Pedestrians First,said,“On one pretext or the other,the civic body is handing over prime plots to builders. This is just another example.”

Inamdar said the situation for the transport body had become so bad that it was forced to park buses on roads and wherever space was available. “This is resulting in traffic jams and PMPML is incurring huge losses due to theft of bus equipment. At night,anybody can walk away with vehicle parts. The theft of bus parts has been going on for long,” he said.

Over 11 lakh passengers commute daily in more than 1,550 Mahamandal buses on 371 routes in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad. The employs 9,972 people to run the show.

PMPML already has lost the Sant Tukaram Nagar depot to PCMC,taking the number of depots from 11 to 10. Two central maintenance workshops at Nigdi and Swargate together provide space for 75 buses. These 12 locations can house merely 836 buses of the fleet.