Lokmat News Network
Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar:
Hundreds of passengers faced unnecessary inconvenience on Sunday after e-bus services came to a halt for nearly four hours due to an internal dispute between private drivers and a supervisor. The disruption lasted from 6 am to 10 am, affecting services on the Pune, Nashik, Paithan, Beed and Jalna routes. Passengers were left waiting for long hours, while officials of the state transport corporation struggled to arrange alternative buses.
E-buses were inducted into the state transport corporation fleet a few months ago and are operated as per a contract under which private drivers are deployed. On Sunday morning, drivers suddenly refused to take the buses out from the charging centre between 6 am and 10 am. E-buses normally operate from the central bus stand and the Cidco bus stand from 6 am onwards on routes including Pune, Paithan, Nashik, Beed and Jalna. As no buses arrived, passengers on these routes were forced to wait for a long time.
After learning that the drivers had taken the step to protest against the alleged arbitrary functioning of the supervisor, state transport officials rushed to the spot and mediated to restore services. Their efforts succeeded after nearly four hours, following which e-bus services resumed on all routes after 10 am.
Services restored after four hours
E-bus services on the Pune, Nashik, Paithan, Jalna and Beed routes remained suspended between 6 am and 10 am, but were restored thereafter.
— Santosh Ghane, divisional traffic officer