Lokmat News Network
Aurangabad, Jan 23
The smart city bus service resumed after a gap of 77 days on Sunday. Coincidentally, it was the third anniversary of smart city buses, which remained off the road because of the strike of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) employees.
The service evoked a good response on the first day of resumption after 77 days. Notably, 100 buses were purchased in 2017 under the Smart City Mission, while a five-year agreement was signed with the MSRTC to ply these buses. However, they remained off the road for over two months due to the Covid-19 pandemic and MSRTC strike.
With a view to mitigate woes of commuters, Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) administrator Astik Kumar Pandey decided to ply buses by hiring ex-servicemen from Sunday, the third anniversary of smart city bus service. Deputy chief executive officer of Smart City Bus Pushkal Shivam, chief operation manager Ram Pavnikar, Zilla Sainik Kalyan officer Maj Syed Firasat, Siddhart Bansod and Manik Neela were present at the resumption of the city bus service.
A total of eleven buses plied on the first day on Sunday. Ex-servicemen with 15 years of driving experience have been appointed as drivers and conductors on a contract basis to ply smart city buses as MSRTC strike continues.