Kolhapur: The civic body's transport undertaking, the Kolhapur Municipal Transport (KMT), will extend its services to only those villages that undertake measures to attract passengers.
The KMT is currently facing losses in fringe villages. According to an official, losses range between Rs 30,000 and 40,000 every day in villages. At present, the KMT provides service to over 60 villages in fringe areas. The transport administration has written a letter to the grampanchayat of the 11 villages. In the letter, the KMT states that it is impossible for the transport undertaking to continue its services to these villages as it contributes to around 35% of total losses.
Sanjay Bhosale, the KMT's additional manager, said, "Maintenance costs of buses plying along long routes are higher than those plying in the city. Also, the increase in fuel consumption has burdened the KMT's finances. On the other hand, passenger strength is not increasing on long routes. Passengers might prefer to use parallel transport, owing to ticket charges. We have asked the village administration to help us improve passenger count on these long routes."
Of the 11, two villages have agreed to cooperate with the KMT. The transport administration has suggested to the villages to take up measures such as asking villagers to opt for the KMT services and make them aware about schemes such as concession passes to students and senior citizens to increase the overall passenger count. At present, KMT passenger numbers have touched a lakh on normal days. The figure rises during the festive season.
"We have deployed new buses on long routes. Though maintenance charges are low and there is more fuel efficiency, the new buses cannot accommodate more than 35 passengers. We are trying to strengthen old buses that can accommodate over 45 passengers and use them for long routes. The transport service along these routes will be stopped if the village administration fails to respond satisfactorily to the measures we suggested," Bhosale said.
The KMT has 129 buses at present, of which only 112 are on the road. The rest of the buses are in need of repair work. The service is provided to 65 villages located in a periphery of 15 to 20km outside the city. The KMT has to spend Rs 35 per kilometer travel. According to the KMT's surveys, buses deployed along long routes reap in only Rs 16 for every kilometer. This, coupled with other factors, lead to losses of Rs 1.5 lakh every day.
Stats
*Total Buses-112 (on road)
*Total villages covered-60
*Village trips in losses-11
*Every day losses due to long routes-Rs 35,000 (average)
*Total losses of KMT-Rs 1.5 lakh
*Total expenditure- Rs 35 per kilometer
*Total gain for long routes-Rs 16 per kilometer
Measures Suggested to villages
*Ask villagers to use KMT buses
*Aware villagers about concession passes
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