2 days ago
Private bus operators in Pune district warn of strike from June 15
Pune: The Pune District Luxury Bus Association has warned of an indefinite strike starting June 15 because of alleged high-handedness of the city traffic police.
If the organisation goes ahead with the threat, it could spell trouble for thousands of commuters.
President of the association Balasaheb Khedekar told TOI that despite police assurances that action for entering city limits would begin only after June 15, cops had already started to penalise them.
"Many of our buses were fined in the last few days. There have been instances when our vehicles were stopped and forced to exit city limits. How will we operate like this? We will go on strike from June 15 if things are not sorted out," he told TOI.
Pune district has around 800 private buses going to several cities in different districts of Maharashtra and the neighbouring states. On average, as many as 70,000 people use the private buses daily.
Khedekar said that on June 1, Pune traffic police issued a directive that private buses should not enter the city from 6am to 11am and from 6pm to 10pm. "We were told the matter would be open to suggestions and objections for the next 15 days.
However, they have started to fine the buses already. We will soon hold a meeting with our counterparts in Pimpri Chinchwad on the matter. Authorities should take the problem seriously," he added.
Working President of the Pune Bus and Car Owners Association Kiran Desai said they were supporting the agitation. "Why are MSRTC and PMPML buses allowed to operate at all times? We also provide public transportation, so why are we being treated differently.
We have been requesting the authorities for designated parking spots and some bus stands for a long time now. All our pleas are ignored. We sent a letter to Pune RTO on Thursday and will meet the officials soon," Desai added.
Sameer Singh, who is to travel to Bengaluru on a private bus later this week, said, "If the strike happens, my travel plans will be disrupted."
Speaking to TOI, DCP (traffic) Amol Jende said that in the last two months, four meetings have been held with the association. "They were told to follow police guidelines and regularise operations. We provided them with parking space at Kharadi Wageshwar on the Pune-Ahmednagar Road and Shewalewadi along the Pune-Solapur Road. Additionally, years ago, space was provided to them at Sangamwadi and Swargate. Also, they should only stop at the destination, but they keep halting as they please.
Police action started since they were not following rules," the senior officer said.
(With inputs by Aseem Shaikh)
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