While talks of Metro and water transport for Thanekars are on, the existing mode of transport, the Thane Municipal Transport (TMT) buses lie in a state of apathy.
To address this problem, the Bombay High Court directed the TMC chief, Sanjeev Jaiswal, to look into the issue of its 50% of non-functional its buses.
The division bench of justice Abhay Oka and CV Bhadang said 50% of idle buses is a big figure and this is not acceptable and cannot be ignored. "Hence, he directed TMC commissioner to look into the issue and place an explanation," he said. The matter will come up for hearing after three weeks or Mid-April.
Based on Right to Information (RTI), there are 274 TMT buses at Wagle bus depot, of which only 143 are in working condition and of the 179 buses at Kalwa depot, only 46 are working. "This figure is for 2003 to 2014 that nearly 50% of the bus fleet is lying in garages for want of maintenance," said advocate Kishore Patil, counsel of Vikrant Tawade.
With 50% of TMT buses off the road, Thanekars do not have access to good transport, which is their right, hence on Wednesday, Tawade filed a public interest litigation (PIL), demanding better transport facilities for Thanekars.
"TMC had obtained funds from the central and state government under Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) and purchased 200 buses from that money," said he. "So, we requested the court to direct TMC to comply to all the terms and conditions it has given under its detailed project report to JNNURM to seek loans. Also that TMC should conduct an inquiry regarding the same," he said.
