Major changes in PMT services stressed

The measures were suggested at a seminar held on Thursday at the CIRT which was attended by mayor Dattatraya Gaikwad, municipal commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad, PMT chairman Prakash Lodha, PMT general manager Subhash Lolge, regional transport officer Uday Alsi, deputy commissioner of police traffic Himmatrao Deshbhratar, other senior office-bearers of the PMT and the standing committee. The PMT has come out with a white paper highlighting the various reasons for the losses incurred by the PMT.

The projected loss for the PMT, which is facing a stiff opposition from private operators, will be to the tune of Rs 34 crore in the present financial year. Commissioner Gaikwad while maintaining that the PMC had major constraints in providing financial assistance to the PMT for making up the huge losses, described the situation as very serious. 8220;There are no simplistic solutions. Some hard decisions have to be taken immediately to try and bring the transport body to a no-profit-no-loss position8221;, he said.

Gaikwad also stressed that the PMT too should go in for introspection to bring in changes in the work system, decentralise work, and not adopt a carefree attitude by assuming that PMC would continue to assist the PMT.

Gaikwad urged the CIRT to suggest comparative feasible long-term and short- term measures by which the PMT can be brought to a no-profit-no-loss position. The option of pumping in up to Rs 100 crore for making the PMT a complete and ideal organisation could also be considered, he said. He stressed that strict measures should be taken to enforce discipline and increase the motivation level of the employees.

Senior faculty members of the CIRT Dr Madhusudhan Bagwe, Hanumanthrao, A V Sardesai, made their presentations and suggested measures for improving the services of the PMT. Mayor Gaikwad said that the final report of the CIRT which will be available next month would be placed before the general body meeting. Some of the members of the transport committee raised issues of corruption in the PMT and charged that the officials themselves were involved in a racket.

Measures for streamlining traffic at Swargate, Pune station, and near the PMC building were also discussed.

85 per cent of people want efficient transport
A passenger survey conducted by the CIRT in Pune said that nearly 85 per cent of the people wanted the public transport to be efficient, and that they were forced to have their own vehicles only because the public transport does not provide efficient services. CIRT faculty member Dr Madhusudhan Bagwe while highlighting the features of the survey stressed that an efficient public transport system has a direct link with the environment, public health, and the mobility of the people in the city, and it is very necessary to save the PMT to save Pune. In the survey, one lakh people were interviewed at 60 nodal points in the city and based on the data, the final report is being made.

The CIRT also inspected works at the six PMT depots and pointed out several irregularities in work. The depots lack the infrastructural facilities, proper lighting facilities and because of the small area of the depot, maintenance work of all the buses cannot be carried out effectively. More serious was the fact that nearly 55 to 60 per cent of the total buses were parked on the road during night hours instead of keeping them in the bus depots because of which damages to the buses by miscreants has become a serious threat.

The CIRT members suggested part privatisation of the PMT services in which private operators are allowed to operate on certain routes. The members stressed that the PMT should have a dominant role, even if the services are partly privatised in such a manner.