The proper positioning and maintenance of bus stops must surely be at the bottom of the Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Ltd (PMPML)’s agenda. With no dedicated department for the management of the 5,000-odd bus-stops in the city, the task of their governance is left to the private contractors who pay little heed to commuters’ needs, says Prasad Joshi.

Don’t be surprised if you visit the PMPML office at Swargate,  ask for the department that looks after the maintenance of the total 5,000-odd shelters and bus stops of the transport utility, and are guided to their ‘advertisement department’!

While the proper positioning and maintenance of these establishments is of prime importance to lakhs of commuters, for the PMPML management, the stands are probably only revenue generation spots —which is why very little attention is being paid for their proper upkeep.

Moreover, the management of the transport utility has hardly ever tried to assess the practicality of the existing locations of bus stops in view of the rampant development works like construction of flyovers, road widening, implementation of one-way routes and so on, taking place in the city.

The last survey to evaluate this is said to be undertaken some eight months ago and rectification measures have still not been taken. Civic activists allege that the PMPML management has no will at all to rein in the private players and hold them responsible for the sorry state of the bus stops and shelters.

Refuting the charges, chief of advertisement department, PMPML, Ramakant Bhokare said the transport utility does undertake periodic drives to asses the conditions of bus stops.

“We come to know about bad conditions of bus stops, if any, through special squads that we deploy on a regular basis. Based on their inspection, we take corrective measures. If the bus stop is being run on BOT (build-operate-transfer) basis, we inform the contractor to do the needful,” he said.

When asked about some of the bus stops in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad that need relocation since the development works taking place around them are affecting the flow of buses there, Bhokare said, “Our policy is to give top priority to the convenience of commuters. We will take efforts to facilitate bus stops at convenient positions, if they are not.”

However, civic activists are in no mood to buy these stock answers from the PMPML authorities. They claim that requests from commuters for shifting of some bus stands in the past have fallen on deaf ears.

There are also strong allegations that the PMPML management has acted in favour of local corporators and leaders in the matters of raising or relocation of bus-stops.

The PMC-PMPML stand-off over bus stands

In the recent past, the issue of positioning and relocation of bus stops has pitched the PMC and the PMPML opposite each other on many occasions.

PMC’s additional city engineer Shrinivas Bonala has accused the PMPML management of keeping the civic body in the dark over the exact positioning of its bus-stops. “They don’t even bother to inform us when it comes to shifting of particular bus stands,” he said.

Bonala also clarified that the civic body has no role to play in the maintenance of PMPML bus stops, pointing out to the fact that private contractors are responsible for it, besides some higher-ups from the PMPML.

Over 700 existing bus-stops to be removed

PMPML officials revealed that around 734 bus-stops falling in various city areas need to be removed for laying down of BRTS networks there. PMC has served notice to PMPML seeking immediate removal of these bus-stops.

Tender process for raising new bus-stops halted

According to PMPML officials, the process of inviting tenders for raising new bus-stops had to come to a halt as PMC objected to it, citing BRTS work as the reason. “PMC has conveyed to us not to go ahead with raising of new bus-stops at present. It has plans to develop BRTS routes in the city measuring around 118 km and the civic body doesn’t want any overlapping to take place between our new bus stops and BRTS stops,” Bhokare said.

Stealing of infrastructure at bus-stops, a major concern

PMPML bosses have cited stealing of infrastructure at bus-stops as the main reason for the sorry state of bus-stops. “Criminal elements steal away iron, steel, fibre, plastic material, electronic gadgets and other materials put up at bus-stops. It is very difficult for us to avoid such incidences,” Bhokare said. He also pointed out at the cases where commuters themselves damaged the infrastructure set up at bus-stops.

The ‘BEST’ design for bus-stops

The new PMPML bus-stops that would come up in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad will be similar to those being employed by Brihanmumbai Electric Supply & Transport Undertaking (BEST). Made up of mild steel, these bus stops are hailed as commuter-friendly and are easy for installation as well as re-installation.

PEOPLE’S  PERSPECTIVE

It’s only for revenue generation

Jugal Rathi,

President, Pune Pravasi Manch

There are 4500 odd PMPML bus stops in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad. At 500 of them, the pole and the yellow board marking the location of a bus stop are missing. As per the assessment of PMPML administration, at least 500 more bus stops having proper shades are required in the city. Currently around 200 bus stops in Pimpri-Chinchwad and 300 bus stops in Pune do not have shades. According to me, the PMPML administration is insensitive about passengers’ convenience. I still remember, two years back, a teenaged school boy standing at an open bus stop at Sinhagad Road was hospitalised due to sun stroke. Still, a number of bus stops are lacking in shades and proper sitting arrangement. For the PMPML administration, it’s only a source of revenue generation. Interestingly, they call their maintenance department as advertisement department. I just want to insist that public transport and bus stops are the fundamental needs of passengers. They should be designed properly and maintained regularly.

We need bus stops, not stands

Chandmal Parmar,

Chairman, Rajshree Parmar Memorial Foundation

A bus stand should be passenger-friendly. It must be convenient for passengers of any age to wait there, to board or leave a bus when it stops there. Unfortunately, the bus stops in the city have been positioned and constructed without giving any thought to the convenience of passengers. The PMPML authority gives contract for setting up a bus stop and the agency hardly makes arrangement for passengers. It is only interested in its own publicity. According to a survey I conducted three years back, there were 173 bus stops in the city, out of which 121 were not at the right position — they were either on the footpaths or were adjacent to footpaths. I feel, it should be mandatory to obtain a no objection certificate from police, before putting up a bus stop. Most often, the PMPML drivers stop the bus in the middle of the road saying that there isn’t enough space. Obviously, the passengers also find themselves on the roads, which is risky. I would like to emphasise on bus stops rather than bus stands. PMPML can set up a separate authority to check on it.

Don’t blame PMPML alone

Sujit Patwardhan,

Civic activist

For me, bus stops is not a major issue of concern. One must look at the root cause. First and foremost, the PMPML company itself is in a problematic situation. Even the salaries of its employees have been overdue. I personally feel that it would not be appropriate to blame the PMPML for the poor condition of our bus stops and their improper locations. Earlier, it was Pune Municipal Transport (PMT), owned by PMC, that was responsible for running and maintaining the city public transport. Now every politician, starting from local to state level, and administrators wish and demand for the best public transport service. But nobody is taking the responsibility. The PMC, PCMC and the state government are the three stake holders of the public transport. While enjoying the title of IT city or cultural capital, it’s the responsibility of the municipal corporation to make the service more compatible, which is ultimately going to benefit it. Considering the financial status of PMPML and the lethargy of political leaders, the issue of bus stops is very peripheral, I think.

(‘Prople’s Perspective’ as told to Supriya Shelar)