Rickshaws brake Kalyan buses

MUMBAI, MAY 31: The Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Transport KDMT service which took off amid much fanfare on May 23 may soon find itself sc...

MUMBAI, MAY 31: The Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Transport KDMT service which took off amid much fanfare on May 23 may soon find itself screeching to a halt, if the powerful autorickshaw lobby in Kalyan and Dombivli has its way.

Out of the 40 buses with the KDMT, only six have been made operational so far and only on two routes, and the frequency of the buses has dropped drastically. While, on the first day, a bus arrived every half-an-hour, the frequency thereafter has gone down to over an hour for every bus.

Insiders said the KDMT8217;s go-slow attitude despite the mammoth public response to the bus service is due to the fact that it is headed by Prakash Penkar, who is also president of the Rickshaw Chalak Malak Sena, a union enjoying the support of over 50 per cent of the rickshaw lobby in Kalyan. Ever since the 40 buses rolled into Kalyan in January 1997, Newsline had reported on the stiff opposition to the introduction of the bus service by the two rickshaw leaders on the transport panel, Penkarand Sudhir Pandit, who controls 30 per cent of the rickshaw lobby.

The 40,000 rickshaws have ruled the roads because they have been the only mode of transport in the townships, and as no metre system is applicable here, people have been forced to pay whatever the rickshawwallahs demand.

8220;The bus service had promised to free us from the manacles of the rickshaw lobby,8221; said E Thyagarajan, a resident of MIDC colony, Dombivli. 8220;But the frequency is so bad, it is as good as not having the buses. We are being forced to travel by rickshaw,8221; he added.

A similar complaint is heard all along the Kalyan station W-Birla College-Durgadi Fort ring route, where serpentine queues of residents wait for the bus. A KDMT staff member, preferring anonymity, admitted that two attempts made in the last seven days by some members on the transport panel to increase the number of buses and improve frequency have drawn a blank.

KDMT deputy general manager N L Jagdale admitted the response to the service was better thanexpected. 8220;Rs 1.30 lakh have been made in earnings in seven days from the ring route in Kalyan, which operates in 64 rounds, and the Dombivli route to MIDC colony,8221; he informed, adding, 8220;it can only get better.8221; He refused to comment on the pressure from the rickshaw lobby, saying, 8220;for that, it would be best to speak to the chairperson himself.8221;

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Denying he was trying to scuttle the bus service, Penkar asked: 8220;If that was my look-out, how come the buses began plying soon after I took over?8221; According to him, 8220;These tales are being spread by disgruntled souls who couldn8217;t achieve anything when they headed the KDMT panel.8221; Refusing to name them, he said, 8220;People should understand that starting off new routes is not as easy as waving a wand.8221;

He said KDMT was planning to increase the routes from June 2 onwards. 8220;By June end, we will have all 40 buses on the road,8221; he promised. He admitted the KDMT services were affecting 15-20 per cent of the business of rickshaws, but he denied this would getworse later. 8220;As people get over the craze about the buses, they will go back to travelling by rickshaws,8221; he said confidently. He also did not think it was necessary to start a tariff metre system for the autos soon. Agreeing with him, Sudhir Pandit said, 8220;Those who can afford will travel by rickshaw, whether there is a bus or not.8221;