More than 200 Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) buses bound for the Konkan region for Ganeshotsav passengers were given a temporary stopping point on a road near Navi Mumbai Airport in Panvel, according to a report by Loksatta – Navi Mumbai published on September 11.
The buses arrived in Panvel late Thursday from depots across western Maharashtra, Pune and other districts. They were sent towards the Konkan in stages from Friday morning after being brought to the area for the festival travel operation. Fuel was filled in Panvel before the buses began departing from Friday afternoon.
The temporary arrangement is being used for passengers from Mumbai and its suburbs who had reserved seats on MSRTC buses for Ganeshotsav travel. Reservations for several buses had reportedly been made months earlier through the MSRTC’s Parel depot. Representatives of political parties had also reserved buses for passengers from Mumbai’s suburbs and the Thane area.
The buses were parked along the Ulwe-Karanjade route near the airport because a large dedicated parking facility for MSRTC vehicles is not available in the Navi Mumbai-Panvel area, the report said. The arrangement also created difficulties for drivers, who lacked a separate rest facility and had to spend the night inside their buses.
According to the report, the MSRTC had not made a dedicated accommodation or rest arrangement for the drivers. The number of toilets available to them was also inadequate. Sealed drinking-water bottles and dinner were provided, but some drivers reportedly complained that breakfast was not available on Friday morning.
The location’s distance from nearby services added to the difficulty. Hotels were reportedly unavailable within roughly five to six kilometres of the roadside stopping point, leaving drivers with limited access to food and other facilities during the temporary halt.
The staging arrangement comes as Navi Mumbai and Panvel undergo extensive development around the airport and surrounding transport corridors. However, the reported shortage of bus parking, driver-rest infrastructure and basic sanitation highlights the operational requirements that accompany large seasonal movements of public transport vehicles.
The buses were scheduled to continue towards their respective Konkan destinations after refuelling and staged departures from Panvel. The report did not specify how long the temporary stopping arrangement would remain in use or whether a permanent MSRTC facility is planned near Navi Mumbai Airport.
