MSRTC to source over 4,500 buses from various depots across state

Nashik: The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC), for effective and unhindered movement of devotees coming to Nashik and Trimbakeshwar during the Simhastha Kumbh Mela to be held in 2027, will source around 4,500 buses from ST depots across Maharashtra.The state transport utility has over 60 years of experience in pooling buses for Ashadhi Ekadashi in Pandharpur and carrying passengers from Mumbai and Thane to Konkan areas during Ganesh Festival. This experience will come in handy for the operations in Nashik district during Kumbh.According to a senior MSRTC official, the Nashik Trimbakeshwar Kumbh Mela Authority (NTKMA) has planned for outer and inner parking areas where the private vehicles will have to be stopped and then the pilgrims will be transported by the MSRTC buses deployed on various routes.“As per the plan, around 3,000 buses will be deployed for the movement of the pilgrims from outer parking areas towards the pilgrim zones in Nashik. The buses will also be allowed till the inner parking centres beyond which the pilgrims will have to walk as these zones will be dedicated exclusively for pedestrians,” the official said.Another set of 1,500 buses will be deployed to ferry the passengers from the five different railway stations.NTKMA authorities said that an integrated shuttle network has been designed to handle over 33 lakh passengers per day while reducing private vehicle movement in core pilgrimage areas.There are 46 outer parking locations around Nashik and Trimbakeshwar. There will be a dedicated set of buses that will connect Nashik and Trimbakeshwar.“The entire bus movement system will be monitored through GPS tracking and integrated with the Integrated Command and Control Centre (ICCC). Real-time monitoring will help regulate bus frequency, reduce waiting time and manage crowd pressure on high-demand routes,” the authorities said.