Devotees from Thane have booked 545 State Transport (ST) buses to their native places in the Konkan region for the Ganesh Chaturthi festival this year.
According to MSRTC, the 545 buses include 127 buses, which are booked by groups of people from different villages and political party members. People traveling to Konkan have started booking the tickets in advance. The ST buses will start at September 5 to September 9, from different depots in Thane region including Thane, Borivali, Kalyan, Vitthalwadi, Bhiwandi, Palghar among others.
"We have a total of 800 buses from Thane region, of which 545 have already been booked. The 127 were group booking, while others were through the MSRTC website. The number may also increase in the near future," said Vinod Bhalerao, Divisional Controller, MSRTC, Thane.
Bhalerao said that the response to the reservation of bus tickets was positive this year. "Last year due to lockdown and Covid-19 restriction, traveling was banned. But this year as the situation is in control, public can book tickets in advance and pack their bags to celebrate the festival," he added.
Bhalareao further stated that people usually travel to Konkan days prior to the festival. So, as per the reservation on September 5 and 6 around 12 buses each day will be released from different depots. Similarly, around 110 buses on September 7, 336 on September 8 and 75 on September 9.
The reservation for booking tickets started on July 16. The MSRTC has announced 2,200 buses from Mumbai, Thane and Palghar towards Konkan during the Ganesh Festival.
