Commuters suffer as PMPML bus shelters continue to be in bad shape across Pune city

PMPML bus shelters in Hadapsar, Fatima nagar, (near) Sassoon hospital, Bhandarkar road, Kumthekar road, Dandekar pul and Yerawada are all in bad condition with roof covers missing or crooked seats or in many places, tilted pillars

PUNE: At a time when commuters are increasing by the day, the Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal (PMPML) bus shelters are proving inadequate and causing a lot of inconvenience to citizens as most of them are in bad shape with no proper shade or place to sit. PMPML bus shelters in Hadapsar, Fatima nagar, (near) Sassoon hospital, Bhandarkar road, Kumthekar road, Dandekar pul and Yerawada are all in bad condition with roof covers missing or crooked seats or in many places, tilted pillars.

At a time when commuters are increasing by the day, the PMPML bus shelters are proving inadequate and causing a lot of inconvenience to citizens as most of them are in bad shape with no proper shade or place to sit. (Shankar Narayan/HT PHOTO)

Nilkanth Mandhare, member of the PMP Pravasi Manch, said, “The problem with PMPML is that even if they carry out repairs, they do so only in core areas such as Shivajinagar and Swargate but what about the other areas. The situation is so bad in the inner parts of the city that even if people have to wait for buses, they have to stand in the Sun as shade is completely missing and this problem has been there since months with no action taken by PMPML.”

Popular perception is that PMPML has always been lackadaisical when it comes to repair work. Two people were injured after a bus shelter collapsed at Moledina road opposite SGS mall on August 13. Daily commuter and resident of M G road, Ishan Shinde, said, “No one has bothered to erect a bus shelter again. It has remained the same for months now. A majority of the bus shelters in the Camp area are crooked but no repair works have been carried out either by the Pune Cantonment Board or the PMPML.”

On her part, Chetna Kerure, joint managing director, PMPML, said, “The depot development project is in process. Tenders are ready and will be shortly floated.”

While PMPML now plans to extend its service to suburban areas, the move hasn’t gone down well with city commuters who feel that PMPML does not provide stress-free transport. “Why is PMPML not spending money on repair works instead of planning new routes? Firstly, they should take care of the city-based routes where daily footfalls are higher and people are still not getting basic facilities,” said Tuhin Deb, a commuter from Baner.

In and around Pune, there are 5,419 bus shelters with PMPML buses operating along 413 bus routes.