And if a meeting held between members of the KDMT administration and the tranport committee on Friday is any indication, it looks like Kalyan's commuters will not be able to escape the clutches of the autorickshaw lobby in a hurry. At the meeting, committee member V Mangrulkar asked that the meeting be adjourned because of the absence of Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation commissioner Madhukar Kokate, who also holds charge as additional General Manager. Kokate, said members, has not attended a single meeting of the KDMT committee since the last six months. ``The administration in general and the commissioner in particular are doing their best possible to create hurdles,'' alleged Deepak Thakur, KDMT chairperson. Another member Prakash Penkar said the commissioner had attended only one meeting since taking charge on December 8, 1997, from his predecessor Prithviraj Bayas.

KDMT deputy manager N N Gadigaonakar claimed that Kokate's `busy schedule' did not permit him to attend the committee meetings. ``But officials who do so brief him about the proceedings,'' he added. Repeated attempts to contact Kokate at home drew a blank.

Madhukar alis Kaka Hardas, former chairperson, wanted to know why the KDMT could not have a separate and autonomous GM like the Thane Municipal Transport (TMT). A proposal on this matter was passed seeking approval from the General Body.

The administration and members also slugged it out over who should train the bus drivers. Hardas wanted to know why the administation had decided to train the drivers at the MSRTC when it would be cheaper to send them to a local driving insitiitute, the Om Training School. Gadgiaonkar countered: ``While the divers will recieve trainingg in actual driving skills from the private school, they need to be sent to MSRTC to learn to deal with people, as they will be part of a public transport system.''

Hardas also wanted to know why the drivers, many of whom had three to five years of experience needed further training. ``Anyway, the conductor is the one who interacts mostly with people so why should the drivers be sent to the MSRTC?'' asked Kaka Hardas.

Although not a single bus has rolled out on the streets and related infrastructure like bus shelters, stops and depots are yet to be developed, the buses were purchased in December 1997 itself. Another 15 are to be delivered, probably to rust along with the others in the depot.