AURANGABAD: Around a month after its formal inauguration, the much-awaited city bus service is likely to start in Aurangabad within three to four days.“A fleet of around 24 buses will hit the road on either January 24 or 25 followed by addition of another 19 buses by the end of the January — taking the total number of buses to 43,” a senior civic official said on Saturday.Aurangabad deputy mayor Vijay Autade said all formalities related to starting of the city bus service were nearing completion. “We foresee no hurdles in starting the bus service by the mid of next week,” he said.It should be noted that the formal inauguration of city bus service was done by Yuva Sena chief Aaditya Thackeray on December 23, 2018. The ceremony was mired in controversy as four buses that were part of the event did not have necessary clearance from the Regional Transport Officer (RTO) for plying on road. Since then, citizens of Aurangabad have been eagerly awaiting start of the city bus services.While Aurangabad mayor Ghodele and his team of Shiv Sena leaders earlier had set January 23, 2018 as the deadline for starting city bus service, the plans could not materialise due to poor planning.The much-talked about city bus service later continued to remain a non-starter as the extended deadline of August 15 last year also lapsed. Ghodele could not be reached for comments on delay in starting the city bus service.The Aurangabad Smart City Development Corporation Limited (ASCDCL), a special purpose vehicle, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Maharashtra State Road Transportation Corporation (MSRTC) for the success of the public transport for Aurangabad.Meanwhile, even if the formal start of city’s own public transportation is round the corner, Aurangabad is without proper bus-stops.While a good network of designated bus-stops is expected to ensure desired occupancy in buses, no thought has been paid towards installing the desired bus stops.When contacted, civic authorities concerned said installing bus stops could take a little more time. “We have floated tenders for appointing a private firm for installation of the bus stops. Based on the response to the bidding process, we will appoint the private contractor. The process could take a few weeks,” a senior civic official said.

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