NASHIK: Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) has started the Nashik-Kolhapur bus service from Monday (June 21). As the Covid-19 positivity rate has been dropped at Kolhapur, it has been decided to start the bus service for it. MSRTC is currently operating 750 buses. MSRTC bus service was disrupted due to a lockdown. However, as the pandemic situation is under control, it has planned longdistance buses.
MSRTC has started bus service between Nashik-Nagpur, Nashik-Hingoli, NashikAmravati and also increased the number of trips. MSRTC service has been started under Nashik district and state from June 7 and buses are being started in phases. For the last few days, buses were running on many routes including Nashik-Latur, Thane, Aurangabad, Jalgaon, Dhule, Nandurbar and Ahmednagar.
The number of patients had been increased on large scale after the second wave of Covid-19. The service of MSRTC was halted as per the state government instructions. However, as the situation was under control, MSRTC was allowed to carry passengers. Against this backdrop, MSRTC has decided to start buses on long-distance routes along with inter-district passenger transport. In this regard, buses have been started on Nashik-Kolhapur, Nashik-Nagpur and Nashik-Latur routes.
Senior MSRTC officials informed that the buses will be started on other routes following response to long-distance service. Meanwhile, there are more than 800 buses in the Nashik division, out of which 360 buses are actually running and 750 rounds are being held daily, informed officials. Last week, MSRTC earned a revenue of Rs 1.5 crore. The revenue is expected to increase in the next few days.
