Thane: Ulhasnagar civic body fails to start e-bus service despite big launch

The e-bus services being flagged off on March 10. Pics/Navneet Barhate

The political urge to inaugurate projects before elections has turned into a nightmare for the locals in Ulhasnagar. More than a week after the inauguration of e-buses in Ulhasnagar, only two buses are operational due to a lack of charging stations. Also, the civic body had claimed that they have approval for 20 buses, but only five have been delivered so far.

On March 10, Public Work Department Minister Ravindra Chavan and Member of Parliament Dr Shrikant Shinde inaugurated the transport service with much fanfare. It was also announced that the regular bus services would be started on March 11. However, the buses have been stranded at the depot since then as there aren't enough charging stations. This has left locals questioning whether the hasty inauguration was done to garner support in the upcoming elections. They expressed anger as the buses were hardly seen on the roads last week. Meanwhile, officials from the Ulhasnagar Municipal Corporation (UMC) said they have charging points and two buses started operations.

The issue UMC faces

As all municipal buses are e-buses, the buses require a large amount of charging, and as charging facilities of such capacity are not available at the UMC charging points, the buses have not been charged. "It is all about mismanagement by the civic authorities who inaugurated the service in a hurry. There should be planning and a proper setup before any inauguration. But here they wanted the inauguration to coincide with Lok Sabha elections and this resulted in failure. After several complaints on March 11, on March 12 they started a single bus that took three-four rounds in the city. Why are you playing with the emotions of the citizens after raising their hopes?" questioned Sarita Khanchandani, social activist and founder of Hirali Foundation in Ulhasnagar.

The new e-buses parked at the depot due to lack of charging facilities

Manoj Shelar, a leader from the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena from Ulhasnagar said, "There are no charging points and no proper bus stops or bus routes for many places. Why have they inaugurated the facility when they don't have all things in line? This clearly shows how the authorities and political leaders are wasting time and money for political gains."

Ashok Naikwade, deputy commissioner, UMC, had earlier informed that since the charging capacity of the municipality is not sufficient, a charging machine with more capacity has been ordered from Pune. On March 12, he said that the charging station at Shahad was ready and the bus service had already started. "A total of 20 buses were about to be started in the city and other parts. Of these, 5 have been received and have started operations. From March 12, e-buses are plying in the city and are continuously operational. We have all the facilities in place and soon all buses will be plying."

Shahad depot needs help

Sources from the transport department said the electricity transformer has not yet been installed at Shahad depot. Apart from this, there is no water connection in the toilets there. There is also no ramp made for cleaning and repairing buses and there is no bus washing facility. Work on the bus depots at Regency, Ulhasnagar railway station (West) has not started yet, while bus stops and routes have not been fixed. The lack of preparation by the UMC prior to starting the bus service has highlighted the mismanagement in the civic body and transport department.

20
No of e-buses approved for UMC