Educational hub Kharghar lacks bus depot

KHARGHAR: With a sizable population of around 2 lakhs, Kharghar is said to be one of the well-developed residential areas under the City and Industrial Development Corporation’s (Cidco) jurisdiction. But this node does not have a single bus depot. In the absence of a depot, the buses are often parked along the roads near residential areas, which hassles residents.

“The other nodes of the satellite city such as Nerul, Belapur, Kalamboli and New Panvel have bus depots and the residents don’t have to face such problems. People from Mumbai, Thane and even Raigad have moved into the area to pursue their education in the schools and colleges set up in Kharghar, also known as the educational hub. But in spite of this, the authorities have not shown any signs of wanting to construct a bus depot in the node,” said Suchitra Mishra, a Kharghar resident.

“Why such step-motherly treatment is being meted out towards Kharghar residents?” she said.

Cidco, however, says it plans to construct a bus depot at Kharghar soon.

S Vijay Kumar, chief general manager (transport and airport) of Cidco, said, “We had allotted one plot along the Sion-Panvel highway and proposed to the Navi Mumbai Municipal Transport [NMMT] to construct a bus depot on it.”

“As Kharghar lacks a municipal authority, Cidco is handling its maintenance and development. We had put one condition in the proposal that whenever a municipal corporation comes up in the area, the NMMT will have to hand over the depot to them. Probably, the NMMT was not in favour of that condition and it refused to take the plot,” said Kumar.

“Therefore we have now

›

WE HAVE DECIDED

TO CONSTRUCT A

DEPOT [AT KHARGHAR]

AND RENT IT OUT TO

TRANSPORT AUTHORITIES.

decided to construct a depot on that plot and rent it out to the NMMT, the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport [ BEST] Undertaking and the Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Transport [KDMT], among other transport authorities that would want to park their buses there. If everything goes as per plan, the proposed depot will be ready by mid-2016,” said Kumar, adding, “We have also planned to construct three other bus terminals in the node.”

Deepak Das, a Kharghar resident, said, “If the Cidco constructs a bus depot in Kharghar, more buses will come to the node from different parts of Mumbai and Navi Mumbai. The increased frequency of buses will benefit commuters in the node, as we won’t have to shell out as much money to travel in autos ”

S VIJAY KUMAR, chief general manager, (transport and airport), Cidco