Latest news with #RanjitGadgil
The Hindu
14 hours ago
- Automotive
- The Hindu
Is the government reluctant to ensure better road safety for its citizens?
With the monsoon session of Parliament scheduled for the 21st of this month, road safety activists in the country have begun a push towards demanding more stringent legislation for automobiles, roads and highways, to ensure better safety for all road users. This is not a small concern – India has one of the highest road traffic accident rates in the world, its roads are some of the world's most deadly, and every three minutes in our country, there is a death due to a road accident. According to Union Minister for Road Transport Nitin Gadkari, every year India sees 4,80,000 accidents, which lead to 1,88,000 deaths of people aged between 18 and 45 years. Additionally, there are 10,000 deaths of children. The country loses 3% of its GDP annually, due to road accidents. Why are our roads so unsafe? Do the problems lie with road design, behaviour on the roads, a lack of implementation of laws or a combination of all these factors and more? Is the government reluctant to ensure better road safety for its citizens? Guest: Ranjit Gadgil, programme director, Parisar, which is part of the Road Safety Network, an Indian coalition of organisations working to improve road safety in the country Host: Zubeda Hamid Edited by Jude Francis Weston For more episodes of In Focus:
Time of India
a day ago
- Business
- Time of India
PMPML passenger load dips after fare hike, revenue up
Pune: PMPML's passenger traffic dipped slightly a month after the PMPML increased its fares, but the revenue grew exponentially. "The passenger traffic did not increase significantly even after schools reopened from June 15. There can be several reasons behind it, but one of them can be the increased fares. We hope to see the passenger traffic improve this month," a PMPML official said. Figures provided by the PMPML revealed that the daily passenger traffic in buses stood at 10.16 lakh in May compared to 10.01 lakh in June. While the PMPML's total revenue in May was Rs44.11 crore, its revenue spiked to Rs62.77 crore in June. The revised fare structure came into effect from June 1. You Can Also Check: Pune AQI | Weather in Pune | Bank Holidays in Pune | Public Holidays in Pune "The passenger count was bound to decrease, considering the higher fares and the cost of passes. Now the service of PMPML will be under the scanner. Until now, it has not improved. We are keeping our fingers crossed," Sadashiv Ambad, who often travels in buses, said. According to a study of Parisar, an NGO, the PMPML's ridership went up by a meagre 5% in the past 10 years though its area of operations increased. "The number of buses per lakh population has decreased from 34 to 22 in the past 10 years. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like 2025 Top Trending local enterprise accounting software [Click Here] Esseps Learn More Undo Ideally, the city should have 60 buses per lakh population. This nominal ridership increase, juxtaposed with increasing private vehicle numbers, means the city will continue to suffer from congestion, pollution and road fatalities, Ranjit Gadgil, the programme director of Parisar, said. The PMPML's ridership increased to 12 lakh per day in 2023-24. There has been a steady decline since then. "While it can be attributed to the Metro, it also shows that overall public transport commuters are not increasing. The PMPML needs to be supported in playing the role of the sole public bus transport provider of Pune, which can change this situation," Gadgil said. (INSET) Transport utility's fleet size to be 3,500 buses by next year Nitin Narvekar, the joint managing director of the PMPML, said the transport utility's fleet consisted of 2,000 buses and 1,700 buses of them were on the road daily. "The numbers have improved slightly. Of the 400 CNG buses we were supposed to get and operate on contract, we have received 291 buses. The rest will come very soon. The PMPML is set to buy its own 1,000 CNG buses. The tender process is in its final stage. We expect the rollout of these buses within six months. Also, the PMPML will receive 1,000 e-buses under a scheme of the Centre. These buses will take some time to come, though. We expect our fleet size to increase to at least 3,500 buses by next year," he said.
