Not Connecting People

Residents of Thane allege that TMT’s intra-city connectivity and frequency is not up to the mark

One wound think a mega city like Thane, would be well connected by public transport. On the contrary, residents of Thane are extremely unhappy with Thane Municipal Transport (TMT). They are upset with the low frequency as well as the bad connectivity of TMT's busses. According to them, most bus services are to and fro Thane station and there are very few buses that connect different parts of the city. Hence, when it comes to travelling from one part of the city to another, Thaneites are left with only one choice, to hire auto rickshaws.

There's more to Thane than the station
According to residents, the fault is with TMT's route plan, which does not cover all the areas of Thane. They are mostly multiple unidirectional routes. In fact, it was found that 80 per cent of TMT's routes start and end at Thane station.
Residents feel that there are many other places that people commute to but there are no bus facilities for those places. Some areas that have bus connectivity happen to have very low frequency; hence, are always overcrowded. Intra-city transport is largely dependent on autos, which is also a big problem in itself.
Thane resident Suman Priya says, “Even when there are buses for some particular destination, they are so irregular that we have to wait endlessly at the bus stop. By the time a bus comes, there is a huge queue at the bus stop. Sometimes, we just have to take autos.”
Another resident Suwarna Lote says, “Due to the lax attitude by TMT officials, auto rickshaws rule Thane city. And we have to bear with their arrogance and tampered meters.”

Where do we go?
In places like Shakti Nagar, Dakshin Park, Vartak Nagar, and Hiranandani Estates, bus connectivity is very poor. There are buses that pass through Hiranandani Meadows but they come via Pawar Nagar and Lokpuram; and the frequency is very poor. Hence, by the time the bus reaches Hiranandani Meadows, it is very crowded and most residents cannot board the bus. There are several such places that need more connectivity.

Overuse and breakdowns
Jeetendra Indise, TMT chairman, informs, “In all, there are 336 TMT buses of which 256 buses are of Wagle Estate Depot. In the morning, 165 buses are supposed to be released from Wagle Estate, instead around 145 to 150 buses are released and 40 to 50 buses return in the afternoon because they breakdown or some other major problem.
“Another TMT bus depot, at Kalwa, has 80 buses from which 55 are released and 20 return back because of technical issues,” says Indise.
He also adds that logically 300 to 400 buses should be plying on the roads but only 125 buses are operational and these too are overstrained, as they have been running for many years. The amount of people that crowd into a single bus affects the condition of a bus. According to Indise, The TMT is making poor use of the available fleet.

Work in progress
Indise adds, “A survey was to be conducted to find the places where TMT connectivity is very poor and how we can improve on it. The survey was initiated but it stop due to some reason, and reports have not been submitted yet.”
Indise also blames TMT Manager Deepak Chavan for the slow pace of work. He adds, “We are trying our best to improve the conditions.”

Areas with bad bus connectivity
•Shakti Nagar
•Dakshin Park
•Vartak Nagar
•Hiranandani Estates
•Hiranandani Meadows

--Padmja Sinha