Every year, thousands of Konkan natives working in Pune, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Mumbai, Thane and Raigad return to their hometowns to celebrate the Ganpati festival. To make their travel smooth, the State Transport (ST) department has arranged special buses from the Pune division to Konkan.
MSRTC Pune division has arranged 230 ST buses to Konkan. Many of these buses are group bookings made a month in advance. Most buses are starting from Swargate and Pimpri depots, carrying devotees in groups of 42 passengers. Compared to last year, more buses have been booked this time.
Konkan is known for its grand Ganesh festival, so thousands of people travel to towns like Ratnagiri, Chiplun, Rajapur, Guhagar, Khed, Mangaon, Dapoli, Devrukh, Sawantwadi, Devgad, Lanja and Sakharpa. From Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad alone, devotees have booked around 141 group buses.
The buses have been allotted from different depots of the Pune division. These include Shivajinagar (20), Swargate (5), Bhor (10), Narayangaon (25), Rajgurunagar (25), Talegaon (15), Shirur (25), Baramati (30), Indapur (20), Saswad (15), Daund (10) and Manchar (10).
Arun Siya, Pune Division Controller, speaking to The Free Press Journal, said, “Even after sending such a large number of buses, we ensured that regular services on other routes are running smoothly. Some of the buses have already returned after dropping passengers in Konkan. Services are smooth, and no inconvenience will occur to passengers.”
