PM e-Bus Sewa to start in Jalgaon after Diwali; depot and charging station at Mehrun ready

The PM e-Bus Sewa is set to begin after Diwali to give Jalgaon residents better transport. The scheme is run in the municipal corporation area with 100 per cent funding from the Central government. The municipal corporation has completed the entire process, including building the depot.

The Centre's PM e-buses are being launched in all municipal corporations of the state. The service has already started in Solapur, Thane and Pune. It is now starting in Jalgaon, Ahilyanagar, Kolhapur and Malegaon. The bus service will be operated through the municipal corporation, but it will place no burden on the corporation.

The corporation is building the e-bus project on two acres of the old T.B. Hospital land in the Mehrun area. Work on the depot there is complete. A charging station for the e-buses has also been readied.

The corporation has said work on a fire station is under way. The Standing Committee meeting recently approved it, and the corporation said that work too would be completed soon.

The layout of bus routes and stops has also been finalised. A company has been appointed through a tender to recruit drivers and conductors. Only a central inspection team's visit is now awaited. The team will give the go-ahead after its inspection. After that, the buses will run on Jalgaon's roads after Diwali.

Fifty e-buses have already been sanctioned for Jalgaon city. They will comprise 24 large, six medium and 20 mini buses. All of them will be air-conditioned. The buses are said to be arriving in Jalgaon soon.

Thus the corporation has completed the depot, charging station, routes, stops and the appointment of drivers and conductors. The fire station work remains, and the central team's inspection is due. The buses will take to the road only after that.