Shifting private travels bus ops out of city: Officials asked to submit report in 7 days

Pravin Datke, Chairman of committed constituted to tackle the issue of private travels buses in city, interacting with officials. Ram Joshi, Additional Municipal Commissioner; Sunil Agrawal, senior corporator, and others also are seen.

Staff Reporter :

The process for shifting of the operations of private travels buses out of the city, appears to have started. A committee constituted specially for the purpose and headed by Pravin Datke, former Mayor, held its first meeting on Thursday and asked the officials of various agencies to submit a report in seven days. Datke chaired the meeting. Sunil Agrawal, senior corporator; Sandeep Gavai, Sanjay Burrewar; Ram Joshi, Additional Municipal Commissioner; Rajesh Mohite, Deputy Municipal Commissioner; Ashok Patil, Assistant Municipal Commissioner; Prakash Warade; Shakeel Niyazi, Executive Engineer of Traffic Department; Ravindra Pagey of Transport Department; Yogesh Lunge, and officers of Estate Department, Police Department, attended the meeting.

The city witnesses plying of private travels buses, as also uses of Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation, school buses, and city bus service run by Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC). Parking and pick-up and drop points of these buses results in traffic congestion in the city. Sandip Joshi, Mayor, had constituted a special committee headed by Datke to frame a new policy and make recommendations to decongest the city roads by shifting the operations of private travels buses out of the city. Accordingly, Datke held the meeting.

In the meeting, Datke directed the officials concerned to send letters to Nagpur Metro Region Development Authority, Nagpur Improvement Trust, National Highway Authority of India with a request to make available land for parking of private travels buses outside the city, along Umred Road and Wardha Road. The officials should also explore if NMC Transport Department can make available buses to ply between the booking centres of private travel bus operators and the private travels bus depots proposed outside the city. Also, Datke said, the officials should explore if there are legal provisions under Maharashtra Municipal Corporation Act in this regard.

NMC Transport Department should co-ordinate with Traffic Control Branch of Police Department and take appropriate action, he said. “The report should be prepared and submitted within seven days. The next meeting of the committee will be held on January 4,” he said. The officers of Traffic Control Branch of City Police, representatives of private travel bus operators, NMC’s law officers, also will be invited in the next meeting. The private travel bus operators will be given time to explain their side, added Datke.