Miffed over the stubbornness of the private bus operator, the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) rolled up its sleeves to shoulder the responsibility of running the public transport utility on its own.
However, after wasting nearly a month on the pretext of fine-tuning the stop-gap arrangements, the much-hyped plans have gone for a toss as the civic administration has finally bowed down to some of the demands put forth by private operator-Bhagirathi Trans Corporation (BTC). After putting local commuters to hardships by depriving bus services for several months, the private operator has again agreed to resume operations in a phased manner from Friday.
The decision followed after the MBMC gave a final ultimatum to the private operator on 21, September. “The operator has agreed to run buses on routes suggested by the civic administration from Friday onwards.
While a supplementary agreement in context to revised fares for limited seat arrangements is being inked, only justified payments which are due will be reimbursed.” confirmed deputy municipal commissioner - Ajit Muthe.
BTC’s -Manohar Sakpal remained unavailable for his comments on the issue. It may be recalled that after much reluctance, the operator had finally resumed the public transport facility from 14, August.
However, after running just five out of the 70 buses on two out of the 17 routes, the private operator abruptly terminated the services from 8 September, leaving countless commuters on the mercy of auto-rickshaws and private cabs for their journey in and out of the twin-city. Notably, a section of influential leaders in the BJP-led governance had been supporting the private operator as he dictated terms by demanding exorbitant amounts towards revised pricing structure.
