Navi Mumbai: The Panvel City Municipal Corporation’s (PCMC) special general body meeting held on Thursday approved a proposal to commence its own bus service. The PCMC will incur a capital expenditure of Rs 288 crore towards the same. The operational expenditure will be through PM e-Bus Seva, in which 100 buses will move 200 km per day. Three different models of buses are proposed for operation. A committee of corporators will be formed to look into various aspects of the approved proposal. As per the draft DPR, 100 e-buses will be deployed with 68 bus stops and 76 bus depot charging stations.PCMC commissioner Mangesh Chitale, explaining the details to elected representatives, said an integrated transportation system cannot be taken to save on capital expenditure. The proposal mooted also keeps the future expansion of the PCMC area such as NAINA, Karanjade, among others in mind. Corporators have raised questions about access issues in rural areas and demanded mini buses, among other things, and the formation of a committee. Mayor Nitin Patil agreed to form a panel with representation from ruling and opposition parties.The PCMC took a decade to approve the bus service proposal after its formation. All other civic bodies claimed to have taken two to four years after their formation to green signal their own bus service. Bus services are provided by BEST, NMMT and KDMT currently in the PCMC area.
