A whopping 10 to 12 lakh plus people have travelled to Konkan by public and private transport for the Ganapati festival this year as the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) and Railways organised the highest number of buses and trains this year. The ten lakh figure is just a rough estimate as there is no official documentation of how many passengers travel in general coaches, in private buses and the numbers could be higher.

“We overcame the difficulties including the strike by the employees, traffic jams and delays in this transport for the special services which was run from September 3 to 8. The ST administration has broken all the records of the last many years on the basis of proper planning and has safely transported more than two and a half lakh passengers through 5,000 buses this year. The state transport buses have departed from Mumbai, Thane and Palghar areas for their hometowns in Konkan. For this, more than 10,000 drivers-conductors, mechanical staff, guided by supervisors and officers from various depots across the state bravely faced various difficulties and carried out such a large number of passengers safely, barring minor accidents,” said Dr Madhav Kusekar, vice-president and managing director of the corporation.