COMMUNICATIONS

PUBLIC TRANSPORT

State Transport: Before the nationalisation of passenger transport services private companies used to serve the transport needs of the people in the district. However, the services rendered by the private buses were not up to the mark. Rules regarding safety of passengers, comforts and convenience were not properly observed. Over-crowding in buses was a frequent occurrence. The bus services, very often, were not regular. In order to attract patronage, the services were made cheaper at the sacrifice of the convenience of the travelling public. Unchecked rivalry among the bus-operators had an undesirable effect on the transport system as a whole.

The then Government of Bombay, therefore, decided to nationalise the road transport services in the State with a view to eliminating the causes of hardships to passengers and to provide an efficient system of road transport. Accordingly a statutory corporation, viz., Bombay State Road Transport Corporation was established in December 1948. Later on the corporation was re-named as the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation. The undertaking is owned and managed by the Government of Maharashtra as a public utility concern run on commercial lines.

The State Transport service was started first on Pune-Ahmadnagar route on 1st June 1948 and until now almost all the important routes of the district are covered by the corporation services. The routes in the district come under the jurisdiction of Nasik and Ahmadnagar divisions. Some parts of Kopargaon, Sangamner, Shrirampur and Akola talukas come under Nasik division. Some buses of Pune division also run through Ahmadnagar district. There are six depots in the district. Of these, the depots at Sangamner, Kopargaon and Shrirampur are under Nasik division and those at Ahmadnagar, Jamkhed and Shevgaon, under Ahmadnagar division.

The statement that follows gives the progress of the State Transport services in Ahmadnagar district between 1950 and 1959.

During the ten years since 1960 there was remarkable progress in passenger transport in the district. The Ahmadnagar division is said to be the most profitable division of the State. The average earning per vehicle per day in the year 1959 was Rs. 228 and was the highest in all the divisions of the State. The same figure stood at Rs. 351 in 1970-71. Similarly, the average earning per kilometre comes to Rs. 28 and is also the maximum in the State. The following table shows the progress of the Ahmadnagar division from 1960-61 to 1966-67:-

TABLE No. 3-PROGRESS OF NATIONALISED ROAD TRANSPORT IN AHMADNAGAR DISTRICT DURING THE YEARS 1961-62, 1966-67 AND 1970-71

Source.-Bureau of Economics and Statistics, Government of Maharashtra.

It is quite obvious that the extent of revenue received by the State Transport in a division will depend upon the popularity of the routes in that division. In Ahmadnagar district, the railway caters to the needs of passengers only in a limited area through which the rail-line passes. On the other hand the State Transport services cover the whole district including the interior parts. At present Ahmadnagar is connected to all the surrounding district places and all the taluka places. Even within the district there is now a net-work of passenger transport services.

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