Nashik: Come December 1, all 38 Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) bus stands in the district will bore a cleaner look as the state transport utility has appointed a cleaning agency — hired by the central office — for carrying out the job.Yamini Joshi, divisional controller of MSRTC Nashik division, said, "The centralised contract of cleanliness for all 38 bus stands in the district has been given and will be operative from December 1. As far as mechanised cleaning is considered, the same will be practised at a total of 13 stands with 13 machines."The lack of cleanliness at MSRTC bus stands — with restaurant, food stall and toilets on its premises — has been affecting the passengers for a long time.Ram Marathe, a regular traveler, said the sight at Thakker Bazar bus stand is not pleasant. "The bus stand (Thakker Bazar) now has additional load of buses from Mela Stand that has been closed for renovation. But the MSRTC lacks any arrangement for cleanliness of the stand and surrounding areas. Hope things change after December 1," Marathe said.Similar is the case with Nashik Road bus stand near railway station. "The stand has open access from all sides. It would be good if the MSRTC starts punishing those who litter on the bus premises," Rohit Kamble, a college student, said.Commuters also questioned the logic of handing over the cleanliness machines to the division office on October 2. "Wonder why the MSRTC did a photo shoot on October 2 of handing over the cleanliness machines when the contract was yet to kick off?" asked Ragini Vyavahare, another commuter.The state of lavatories is also not good. "When you come to bus stand, you don't have to ask for directions to the lavatory. The foul odour emanating from the toilets automatically lets everyone about its location. Many actually avoid going there," Sangeeta Khopade, a traveler, said.An MSRTC official, however, said that in case of toilet blocks, the matter was subjudice since 2013 and hence the MSRTC has been unable to do anything."There are large numbers of cleanliness issues concerning the toilet blocks and all these along with the fact that centralised cleaning contract has been given will be presented in the court and relief will be sought. We are sure things will change soon," the senior official said.

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