BEST to begin AC bus service for Siddhivinayak temple devotees

The special AC bus which the BEST has introduced to ease traffic woes for the Siddhivinayak temple devotees

After making a plan of special AC bus service for devotees who come to visit the Siddhivinayak temple, the civic body with the help of the BEST will soon start a service on Wednesday at 8 am. The bus is especially for those who come by car and don't get parking space around the temple. Mid-day was the first who reported about the plan.

The Siddhivinayak temple is one of the most visited temples as it witnesses an average of 60,000 devotees who visit the temple on a daily basis. On Tuesday's and Chaturthi, the number increases double folds. Initially, the devotees used to park their car in the nearby lanes, which used to create a traffic jam on the already narrow lanes. Though the trust of the temple asked for a parking lot, the BMC doesn't have any.

So, in order to tackle the problem, the civic body has provided another option. According to the plan, two small AC buses will run on two different circular routes from Kohinoor square parking lot to the Siddhivinayak temple. Speaking about the same, PRO from the BEST said, "The first bus starts at 8 am and the last one at 8.20 pm. There is a bus at an interval of 20 minutes."

The bus route that the two special AC buses will follow

While bus route A-54 will take Plaza, D'silva high school, Aagar bazaar, the temple, Kirti College, Shivaji gymkhana and then the parking lot route. The bus route of A-55 is in an anti-clockwise direction. It will start from Shivaji gymkhana, Kirti college, the temple, Aagar bazaar, Shivaji Mandir, and at last move to the parking lot.

The ticket is just like any other AC bus i.e. Rs 6 per five kilometers. The distance between the parking lot and the temple is about 2.5 km. Kiran Dighavkar, assistant municipal commissioner of the G north ward said, "The route will start to discourage illegal parking and provide a solution for the parking in available space."

The Kohinoor parking lot is given by a builder in exchange for additional FSI. 1007 vehicles can be parked in the lot. In the meanwhile, the BMC has taken action against the vehicles parked in 'No Parking' area in the vicinity of 500 meters radius of Municipal PPL located at Kohinoor Tower.

A total number of four-wheeler Vehicles toed till Tuesday is 61 and that of two-wheeler is 37. The Traffic department has managed to collect a revenue of Rs 7.37 lakh as penalty charges till 5.00 pm.

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates