Residents demand more buses to Khandeshwar, Mansarovar railway stations

With parking issues prevalent outside Khandeshwar and Mansarovar railway stations leading to traffic jams, residents of Kamothe Colony Forum have demanded an increase in the frequency of the Navi Mumbai Municipal Transport buses for the railway station in order to avoid using the private vehicles to commute

With parking issues prevalent outside Khandeshwar and Mansarovar railway stations leading to traffic jams, residents of Kamothe Colony Forum have demanded an increase in the frequency of the Navi Mumbai Municipal Transport (NMMT) buses for the railway station in order to avoid using the private vehicles.

Residents demand more NMMT buses to Khandeshwar, Mansarovar railway stations. (HT FILE PHOTO)

“The bus services provided by NMMT at Khandeshwar and Mansarovar stations are not sufficient. This has led to a traffic chaos at these railway stations due to the use of private vehicles. In the given scenario, Kamothe Colony Forum has demanded additional buses to these railway stations by NMMT,” Mangesh Aadhav, President, Kamothe Colony Forum, said.

Aadhav added that Kamothe city has two railway stations, namely Khandeshwar and Mansarovar, where commuters from Kamothe, Kalamboli, Navade, Khanda Colony, Taloja and New Panvel come to travel by train. “Considering the larger public demands, NMMT had started the bus service to the stations a few years back. The commuters were very happy when this bus service started. However, the same was stopped during Covid as the train services were stopped. Now, the bus service has resumed but with less number. This has increased inconvenience to the commuters travelling to the station.”

Additionally, the construction work in front of the station has left no parking space for two-wheelers and four-wheelers.

Meanwhile, Sriram Narayanan, 31, a resident of Kamothe Sector 36, said, “The increased number of buses to Mansarovar and Khandeshwar stations will reduce the influx of private vehicles at the railway stations. The buses need to be more streamlined and corroborated with the train timings especially during the peak hours.”

There are three services in this area, one from Kalamboli Police Headquarters to Mansarovar station, one from Steel Market to Mansarovar station and one from New Panvel to Khandeshwar station.

“While there are five buses from Kalamboli Police HQ at a frequency of 29 minutes, there are two buses from Steel Market every half-an-hour. The third bus is currently stopped after the bridge connecting Vichumbe and Usarli in Panvel to Panvel railway station became dangerous for heavy vehicles. While we understand it is causing inconvenience for the residents there, we cannot do anything unless we can ply on the bridge. The other two services, as per our understanding, have enough frequency,” an officer from NMMT, said.