Pune, 2nd November 2023: The ongoing Maratha reservation protests unleashed chaos on Wednesday, leading to the cancellation of half of the State Transport (ST) buses in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad. The disruption of services to Western Maharashtra, Marathwada, Vidarbha, and Khandesh left passengers facing significant inconveniences. The financial toll on ST was evident, with Wednesday’s cancellations resulting in a revenue loss of Rs 33.27 lakhs.
“Following the instructions of local police in light of the Maratha reservation protests, ST buses are not being dispatched to areas of unrest. Half of the buses operating in the Pune division were canceled on Wednesday,” announced Kailas Patil, Divisional Controller of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC).
ST buses, originating from key points such as Swargate, Shivajinagar (Wakdewadi), Pune station, and Vallabhnagar depot (Pimpri-Chinchwad), play a crucial role in daily commuting. Out of the 1,229 buses departing from Pune daily, the escalation of the Maratha reservation movement led to the cancellation of a total of 614 buses on Wednesday, resulting in 84,941 km rounds remaining incomplete. This cancellation had a substantial financial impact on ST.
The ramifications of the Maratha reservation protests were most pronounced in bus services from Swargate depot to Western Maharashtra and Konkan, as well as from Shivajinagar (Wakdewadi) depot to Marathwada. Popular destinations like Kolhapur, Sangli, Solapur, Pandharpur, Satara, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Ahmednagar, Beed, Jalna, Latur, Nagpur, Amravati, Akola, and Jalgaon witnessed cancellations. The cancellation of ST buses on the eve of Diwali compounded the inconvenience for passengers.
