The Times of India              02.09.2013

Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation may purchase 665 new buses

PUNE: The Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation (PCMC) plans to purchase 665 buses under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).

Bapu Gaikwad, assistant transport planner of the civic traffic cell, said, "The Union government has sent letters to various cities, including Pimpri Chinchwad, informing them that it had extended the period of the JNNURM up to March 2014. The government will provide funds to the cities to purchase a total 10,000 buses to improve public transport."

Gaikwad said many of the buses operated by the Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) in Pune and Pimpri Chinchwad had become old and needed to be scrapped. Moreover, the population of the city was increasing rapidly, necessitating the purchase of more buses to provide good public transport and discourage the use of private vehicles.

The PCMC will prepare a detailed project report on the issue and submit it to the central government. "Some of these buses will be semi-low-floor buses with doors on both sides to ply on BRT routes, while others will include simple as well as air-conditioned buses," Gaikwad said.

The PCMC had earlier procured 150 buses under the JNNURM with funds from the central government.