For years, the people of the satellite city as well as maximum city had eagerly awaited the inauguration of the Mumbai Trans Harbour Link (MTHL), India’s longest sea bridge, that promised to revolutionize transportation in the region. At the heart of this transformation stood the Navi Mumbai Municipal Transport (NMMT), the lifeline of Navi Mumbai, which is ready to extend its reach across the vast expanse of the MTHL.
“We propose to start four services on the MTHL between Nerul and Mantralaya. We have decided to change the route of bus number 115, that plies on Kharkopar-World Trade Centre. The service will now be available between Nerul and Mantralaya and will pass through MTHL, also called as Atal Setu,” NMMT General Manager, Yogesh Kaduskar said.
New service is likely to start from the next week
Stating that the new service is likely to start from the next week, Kaduskar said, there will be no change in the fares as of now. “We have decided to charge the same fare (Rs 90) for the 52-km route. As far as extending the load of heavy toll rates on the passengers, we are yet to take a call on that,” the official added.
NMMT plies around 567 buses on 74 routes, thereby helping around 1.80 lakh passengers reach their destination daily. Besides operating within NMMC jurisdiction, the NMMT also provides services to surrounding cities such as Thane, Mumbai, Kalyan, Dombivali, Uran, Khopoli etc.
Earlier, NMMT became the first civic transport undertaking in the state, after the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC), to make travel easy and trouble free for senior citizens above 65 years of age.
Travel free for people above 75 years of age
Taking a step further to the MSRTC’s decision of making travel free for the people above 75 years of age, NMMT has further reduced the age limit and made travel free for those above 65 years of age. The passengers just have to produce the proof of their residence in NMMC area and age to avail the benefit.
In an effort to prevent disturbance to the passengers and following several complaints from the passengers, NMMT also restricted the use of mobile phones on its buses. The decision is taken to increase efficiency and offer quality travel to the passengers.
NMMT does not ban the people from using the mobile phones
NMMT does not ban the people from using the mobile phones, but request the passengers to observe constraint from playing music and videos loudly. This is to ensure that the people travel peacefully. If commuters want to see any video or listen to the music, they can do so by using earphones. This way they can entertain themselves without disturbing others.
Though no action will be taken against the offenders, but the immediate NMMT employee or official has been empowered to reprimand the offenders so that travel becomes peaceful for everyone. Action can be taken against passengers causing such disturbances under Bombay Police Act sections 38/1, 2, and 112 which gives the power to prohibit the continuance of music, sound, or noise and deals with the issue of Misbehaviour with intention to provoke a breach of the peace.
