Wanwadi resident Madhur Damte is used to waiting at shelter-less bus stands, come rain or shine. His hope took a leap when the PMPML announced setting up bus shelters across the city three years ago.
But with hardly any progress in that respect, Damte is disappointed. “I waited for the transport utility to set up bus shelters, but nothing happened. I feel cheated, but have stopped expecting anything,” he said. A tender, which involves setting up 300 bus shelters, has finally found takers, senior transport body officials said, adding that 90 stainless steel bus shelters would come up at different points in the city in the next three months.
“The work order has been issued. The final plan involves setting up 300 bus shelters in the next 315 days. The agency, which has been appointed, will set up 90 bus shelters by November-end. We expect all 300 bus shelters to come up by July or August next year. The tender was first floated around three years ago, but it had to go through several changes and re-tendering process before it found takers,” a senior Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Ltd (PMPML) official told TOI. Presently, there are around 5,000 PMPML bus stops across Pune, Pimpri Chinchwad and the PMRDA region. Of these, 1,130 stops have shelters, including BRTS shelters. In the past few months, the PMPML has set up regular bus shelters with asbestos rooftops at a few place
“Teams are moving from place to place, checking the spots which really need bus shelters. Based on the results, tenders for setting up more shelters will be floated in the next couple of months. The tender requirement for this plan will be similar to the one earlier so that it finds takers,” the official said. “For over three years, we are waiting for bus shelters and despite all claims, the PMPML has failed to deliver on its promise. Until the new shelters start coming up, we don’t want to expect much from the transport body,” Haider Shaikh, a resident of Camp, said.
