PUNE: The first fleet of midi-buses is expected to come in the city by March. The procurement of the 200 buses is at the final stage and the first batch of 50 buses will start serving the city on March 8.

“These buses are needed for the city. They can be used in the peth areas and also places where roads are narrow. We are also working on providing special midi buses for women. The decision about it will be taken soon,” said Murlidhar Mohol, chairman of the standing committee of PMC

The demand to get these buses is being discussed and debated since 2016. As many as 200 midi buses (medium size buses) will added to the fleet of the public transport of city. The standing committee of Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) in September 2016 had given approval to this procurement. The buses will be given to Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) to operate.

The activists have been raising the issue of lack of buses in the city from a long time. They have highlighted ageing buses with broken seats, frequent breakdowns, pathetic condition of bus stops, lack of hygiene, poor frequency of buses and low reliability are some of the prominent problems experienced by over 10 lakh commuters every day. It has led to operational losses to PMPML.