PUNE: There has been a drastic improvement in the functioning of Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) buses after Tukaram Mundhe took over as chief.
Earlier, 20 per cent of the buses used to break down every day, causing inconvenience to commuters. The number has now fallen to 3.5 per cent.
Six months after Mundhe took charge as Chairman and Managing Director of the loss-making PMPML, the results are visible.
“We are here to serve citizens. I am trying my best to give more facilities to commuters. We reduced the breakdown to 3.5 per cent from 20 per cent. I am personally looking after all this and soon it will be a thing of the past,” Mundhe told Sakal Times.
On March 29, when he joined as CMD of PMPML the average bus breakdown was 425 daily.
Now, it has dipped to 70 per day. As many as 1,098 buses were off roads in the first 8 days of his joining the public transport body.
FIXING BREAKDOWNS
The public utility has 17 towing vans in 13 depots in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad. According to Mundhe, all depots have been instructed that there should be no delay if they receive any breakdown information.
“We set up a control room for the breakdown of PMPML buses. If any bus breaks down, the driver or conductor has been instructed to immediately inform the control room. The control room will call the nearest depot and tell them to send a towing van with mechanics. Within 15 minutes of a call by driver or conductor, the van and mechanic has to reach the spot,” Mundhe said.
FALSE CLAIMS: ACTIVISTS
Commuters’ rights activists are claiming that PMPML is manipulating the figures. It was never 400 and isn’t 70 today either, they say. “The PMPML is manipulating everything and providing false information. If they are claiming that 400 buses broke down every day earlier, and they reduced to 70 per day, it is totally false. If we calculate per month what figure they provided, it means 12,000 buses broke down per month,” Jugal Rathi of PMPML Pravasi Manch said.
“As per the RTI reply, which I got from PMPML, in July 1,159 buses broke down and 1,997 buses’ faults were reported. Last year same month, 1,064 buses broke down and 1,478 buses’ faults were reported. If we calculate, it comes to 107 buses breakdown and fault reported every day and 87 per day last year. So, how can Mundhe claim that the buses breakdown has reduced?”