The Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) is grappling with a persistent maintenance crisis, with over 15% of its buses regularly off the roads and parked in the garage due to repair works. Recent data provided by PMPML reveals that in 2024, 15,719 buses experienced breakdowns, a slight improvement from 17,784 in 2023.
PMPML's current fleet of 2,000 buses often struggles to meet the city's growing demands, as 300-400 buses are consistently under maintenance.
Speaking to The Free Press Journal, Hemant Sonawane, Executive Director (Administration and Public Relations), Pune Metro, said, "We require more feeder buses at the metro stations for passenger convenience. We had a conversation regarding adding more feeder buses but due to a shortage of buses the issue was not resolved yet."
Reacting to this, Nitin Narvekar, Joint Managing Director, PMPML, said, "The main cause of breakdowns is the presence of old buses. Soon 400 new CNG buses will be added to the fleet and we will remove 300 plus old buses. Moreover, the batteries of e-buses are getting old as their batteries have a five-year warranty only. However, we have requested the dedicated department for the replacement of these batteries. Soon it will be done. Multiple minor and major faults took place on the road. While tyre puncture is minor maintenance, it also comes under maintenance and increases the data of breakdown."
"The breakdown numbers will reduce as we are adding 400 more new CNG buses and also the batteries of existing buses will be replaced. Apart from this, we have also sent proposals to the state government for 1000 electric buses. We are trying our best to resolve the issue."
