NMC to gift its city bus service to citizens on Diwali

Nashik: The Nashik Municipal Corporation (NMC) plans to roll out its city bus service around Diwali. Civic officials described it as a Diwali gift for the citizens amid the Covid pandemic.
The previous state government had given its nod to the NMC to take over the city bus service from the ailing Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC). The civic body had plans to deploy 400 buses, including 200 CNG, 50 diesel and 150 electric. As many as 250 swanky buses, including 200 CNG and 50 diesel variants, had arrived in the city by March-end and had even got the RTO passing. But the project was delayed due to Covid-19 outbreak.
So far, the NMC has deployed two agencies to operate the city bus service. The agencies will, altogether, operate 250 buses, including 200 CNG and 50 diesel. The NMC has also finalised an agency to operate 150 electric buses, but it has not yet given work order to the agency concerned.
NMC commissioner Kailas Jadhav told TOI that earlier the civic body had plans to start the city bus service from April, but it could not do so due to the pandemic.Now, the focus is on Covid-19 outbreak. The drop in revenue is another concern as the NMC’s revenue through property and water taxes have reduced. “Therefore, we are planning to launch the city bus service around Diwali, but we will not run all the buses at one time. We would initially ply about 50 buses. Depending on the response, the fleet would be increased at regular intervals,” said Jadhav.
The civic commissioner said he will review the project and will also visit various sites to check the infrastructure. “We have to build two bus depots and six terminals. I will review the infrastructure and other related projects with the officials concerned shortly,” he said.
The bus service is to be operated on a gross-cutting contract (GCC) for a period of 10 years. This includes the purchase of new buses, maintenance of buses, employing drivers, purchasing fuel, etc. NMC will pay charges to private agencies on a kilometre basis.