Vasai-Virar’s internal bus services are running 30 to 45 minutes late after 584 Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation buses were sent from three local depots to Konkan for Ganeshotsav travel, disrupting daily journeys for office workers and college students.
The buses were deployed to serve the large number of residents who have moved to Vasai-Virar for employment and business but return to their native places in Konkan during the festival. The diversion has reduced the availability of buses for routes within the city and surrounding areas.
The Vasai, Nalasopara and Arnala ST depots together sent 584 buses to Konkan. Across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, more than 5,000 buses were reportedly made available for passengers travelling to the Konkan region for the festival.
The additional services received a strong response from passengers after the ST corporation introduced group registration for the special buses. The arrangement has helped facilitate festival travel to Konkan, but has also created a shortage of buses for regular local operations in Vasai-Virar.
The disruption is affecting passengers travelling from the city towards Vasai East’s industrial area, Bhiwandi and rural parts of Vasai for work. A large commuter population depends on ST buses for these journeys. Services operating from Navghar, Vasai village, Nalasopara and Arnala are also used by significant numbers of daily passengers.
Passengers using these routes have been facing delays of between half an hour and 45 minutes. The impact is particularly significant for workers and students who depend on scheduled services to reach workplaces and educational institutions.
The situation illustrates the operational pressure faced by a regional bus network during a major seasonal travel period. Local buses are being used simultaneously to support long-distance festival travel and routine urban and suburban commuting, while the available fleet at the local depots remains limited by the diversion.
The report did not specify when regular bus frequencies in Vasai-Virar would return to normal or whether additional vehicles would be assigned to the affected city routes. The ST corporation’s special Konkan services and the local route operations remain the immediate transport arrangements described in the report.
