PUNE, June 28, 2013: The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) has decided to operate 300 additional buses on Pandharpur and Alandiroutes starting from Thursday for thousands of devotees who will be participating in the annual Palkhi processions of Sant Dnyaneshwar and SantTukaram.

An MSRTC official on Thursday said they are anticipating participation of more devotees in the Palkhi processions this year as compared to the previous years. The official has cited timely arrival of monsoon as one of the reasons, as sowing activity is already underway in most parts of the state.

Ashok Jadhav, Pune divisional controller of MSRTC, said, "While the MSRTC operates additional buses to Pandharpur from all over the state, the highest number of devotees travel from Pune and Ahmednagar divisions. Anticipating an increase in the number of devotees this year, we plan to run 300 buses, which is about 40% more as compared to last year when we had engaged 179 additional buses."

Most buses to Pandharpur will start from Pune, Rajgurunagar, Narayangaon, Baramati and Indapur. Besides, the buses will also ply on routes such as Alandi-Pune, Dehu-Pune, Dehu-Alandi, Saswad-Pune as the procession move ahead proceeds. The MSRTC will also provide a separate bus for a group of about 40 to 50 devotees.

Jadhav said that in 2012, the Pune division had managed to complete 1,430 trips during the procession, covering a distance of about 2.62 lakh km. "Additional staff has been deployed to manage the movement of buses during the procession. Also, the on-duty officials will be updated on the movement of buses via text messages," he said.

Source: The Times of India, DT. June 28, 2013.