COMMUNICATIONS

PUBLIC TRANSPORT

State Transport.—Among the public transport organisations the State Transport could be mentioned as one. The State Transport undertaking has been catering to the needs of passenger transport on an increasing scale. The undertaking is owned and managed by the Government of Maharashtra as a public utility concern run on commercial lines. The parent body, the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation, is a statutory public corporation.

Nationalisation of passenger transport was decided upon by the State Government in August 1947 and, initially, the services were started departmentally in June 1948, the administration of which was subsequently handed over to a statutory Corporation in December 1949 under the provisions of the Road Transport Corpo-ration Act (XXXII of 1948). Since then, the Corporation has been reconstituted under the Road Transport Corporation Act LXIV of 1950.

Thus the nationalisation of passenger transport services in Buldhana district dates back to August 1947 when the Government of the Central Provinces and Berar took over the management of transport from the Central. Provinces Transport Services, Nagpur, in 1955. After the reorganisation of States in 1956, it was brought under the over-all control of the Bombay State Road Transport Corporation. The undertaking, along with the Marath-wada State Transport Services was merged with the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation from July 1, 1961.

Bus Routes: Nationalisation of the services on more and more routes is progressing gradually, the objective being to bring all the routes under the operation of the State Transport. The operations in Buldhana district were first started from Khamgaon depot on 11 routes with a total of 530.5 kilometres, with 10 vehicles. The process of expansion was very rapid and by the end of December 1968 there were two depots in the district, viz., at Khamgaon with 45 vehicles and at Buldhana with 46 vehicles. In all 69 routes were in operation from these two depots with a total of 3,476.7 route kilometres. Besides, a number of buses with their destina-tions in and out of the district pass through the district. On an average 12,176 and 5,595 passengers were carried per day from each of these depots. Details of the routes emanating from each of these two depots as on 31st December 1968 arc given in the following statement:—

Amenities to Passengers: The Corporation has constructed bus stations at Buldhana, Chikhali, Nandura and Malkapur. They are equipped with potable water and sanitary arrangements, parcel rooms, canteens, waiting hall, etc. A temporary bus station has been constructed at Khamgaon. The Corporation also provides welfare facilities to its employees. A labour welfare centre is functioning at the Divisional Headquarters where indoor games and recreational facilities are provided. In addition medical dispensaries are provided at Buldhana and Khamgaon, and rest rooms at Buldhana, Khamgaon and Chikhali depots.

Depots: The Akola division, of which Buldhana district forms a part, has 219 buses plying on 175 routes with a total route length of 9,905 kilometres. The buses put on road have, on an average, a seating capacity of 49, exclusive of the seats for the driver and the conductor. The average daily kilometres operated by these buses during December 1968 was 41,889 carrying on an average 43,703 passengers per day.

The light and heavy repairs of the buses are carried out at the Divisional Workshop which is situated at Akola. Further, after the operation of every 24,000 kilometres the vehicles are routed by the depots to the Divisional Workshop for preventive maintenance. In addition, there are two depots in the district situated at Bul-dhana (46) and Khamgaon (45) for daily maintenance of the vehi-cles. [The number of vehicles attached to each depot is given in brackets]. Regular daily and weekly servicing and 8,000 kilo-metres docking for maintenance are carried out in these depots.

Private Passenger Transport.—Though a majority of the passenger transport services have been nationalised and brought under the operational control of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation, a few routes arc still allowed to be served by the private owners of transport vehicles. Some of the routes are left exclusively for the private owners whereas on a few routes they share the passenger traffic with the State Transport buses.

The names of some of the private owners of passenger buses and the routes on which the buses run is given below:—

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