Over 100 MSRTC buses to ply between city and Saptashrungi

NASHIK: The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) has arranged 103 buses to carry passengers from Old Central Bus Station in Nashik to Saptashrungi shrine situated atop the Saptashrungi hills during Navratri festival, beginning from October 4.
"We have arranged for a total of 103 buses from Nashik to Saptashrungi and a set of another ten buses from Nashik Road station. This will help in faster movement of pilgrims and the direct service will also cut down the movement of private vehicles to the shrine, where the movement of traffic will be restricted from October 1 till Dussehra," informed Yamini Joshi, divisional controller, Nashik division.
The buses will be called from Yeola, Manmad, Sinnar, Satana, Igatpuri, Lasalgaon, Nandgaon depots.Like every year, private vehicles have been banned on the eight-km long foothills of the Saptashrungi Gad and only MSRTC buses will carry passengers to and from the temple till October 11.
"The road is narrow, steep and risky. Besides, it is the only way to enter and exit for the vehicles going up the hill. Also, there is little space for parking on the hill. Considering all these constraints, for the past several years the administration bans the movement of private vehicles and allows only MSRTC to operate between the base and the shrine," said an MSRTC official.
Accordingly, 103 buses will leave from Nashik city, even as 85 others will be stationed at the foothill to carry the passengers to the shrine. "The private vehicles will be parked at the base. The MSRTC, therefore, has deployed fleet of 85 buses that will keep shuttling between the foothill and the shrine all day long depending on the crowd," the officer said.
Besides, Malegaon and Manmad will see maximum numbers of buses carrying the passengers from their depots. All the buses coming from the depots will move up to the shrine directly. The passengers will not have to change the bus at any point after they take the bus from the point of origin.