While most commuters complained of non-functional AC blowers and soiled smelly seats, they did agree that buses were swept frequently
While most commuters complained of non-functional AC blowers and soiled smelly seats, they did agree that buses were swept frequently
In the concluding part of our campaign on the AC Shivneri buses plying between Pune and Mumbai, MiD DAY speaks to commuters about the interiors of the buses, the cleanliness and the quality of the seats to find about the general travelling experience.
This reporter again visited Swargate and Pune Station and spoke to a few commuters. Most of them complained about broken water bottle holders, leaking AC blowers, unswept buses during late evening hours and torn seat covers. But they also said that the buses were swept
frequently.
At Swargate bus stand
At Swargate station, MiD DAY checked few buses and found that most of them were swept but the seat covers were in a sorry state and smelled badly. There were used packets of food and water bottles lying in the holders, which were not a pleasant sight to see. Most commuters also complained that the AC was not powerful or broke down often during travel. 
Finance executive Abhijit Deshmukh (27) said that he was happy with Shivneri for their punctuality but faced problems on a few occasions because of breakdown of air-conditioners and dirty seats.
"I was travelling to Mumbai in monsoons and the air conditioning was switched off because of some technical reason. There wasn't any ventilation inside the bus since the AC had broken down and neither could we open the windows. All the passengers felt suffocated until we reached our destination.
That was an harrowing experience," he said. He also added that in most buses, nets holding water bottles were torn and the seats were frequently soiled.
24-year-old student Vaibhav Mane who studies in Pune but returns to his home in Mumbai every fortnight said that most Shivneri buses have broken seats which cannot be adjusted, torn water bottle nets and non-functioning AC vents. "If I am paying such a hefty amount, the AC should always work. Otherwise, the service is reliable and satisfactory," he said.
Satish Agarwal, 26, who works in a PR company said that most often he found his seats have used wrappers and used food packets. "I travel in the evenings and I think they only sweep buses in the morning. By evening, the condition is bad. I always find used food packets wrappers, empty bottles near seats and once I even saw cockroaches feasting on them. It was so harrowing, I took a taxi the next weekend I had to travel to Mumbai," he said.
At pune railway station bus depot
Here we got mixed reactions from people. While some had no problems with Shivneri buses, the others had the same complaints of broken AC vents, soiled seats among others. 
50-year-old businessman Jeevan, who was on his way to Mumbai, said that he has never found any problem with MSRTC buses till date. "I have been using Shivneri for the past several months and I have not found any serious problem with the service. The buses are neat but I wish they did something about the weekend queues," he said.
BPO executive, Melven Mendes (24), said, "Most times the AC did not work. The AC does not function most of the time, which is very irritating for passengers who are paying for an AC service to get away from the heat. The seats are soiled at times and I have rarely found a water bottle holder in a good condition. I have to sit holding my stuff in my lap and can't even catch a wink as it keeps falling off the holder."
The Other Side
Swargate bus depot manager, Vijay Kumar Divate said that a few buses that are due for replacement in the month of April usually have these problems. "The complaints regarding broken water bottle holders and non-functioning AC blowers may be true since they are subject to a lot of wear and tear. We do maintain them and repair any problem when we come across one", he said.
About broken seats that cannot be adjusted, Divate said that they work on a spring-gas system, which gets worn out after continuous usage. "We repair them at regular intervals. These problems will soon be rectified when the old buses are replaced and the new ones come in. Other buses do not have this problem" he added.u00a0u00a0u00a0
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