The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) would soon start CNG-run buses in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) and in Pune with an aim to curb pollution on its part.

The eco-friendly buses would start plying first in Pune and by the end of this year in MMR. “The work for setting up the gas filling machinery is on at our Kurla depot, but it should happen by year end. In Pune, we would soon introduce CNG-run buses as the work on a filling station is almost over,” said MSRTC vice-chairman and managing director Om Prakash Gupta.

“CNG is an environmental friendly gas compared to the diesel and hence we have decided to introduce CNG buses in the city to curb pollution on our part,” Gupta added.

The MSRTC runs inter-city bus services within the MMR. Some of its services like Dadar-Panvel, Thane-Mantralaya (Mumbai), Thane-Panvel and Thane-Bhiwandi are immensely popular as the local municipal transport units are not in a position to run such services at MSRTC’s scale.

The corporation also plays a vital role in carrying the commuters from the townships like Vasai-Virar, Alibaug-Uran, Bhiwandi-Nizampur, Ulhasnagar, Badlapur Ambernath. But all these buses run on diesel.

However, the state transport unit — also known as lifeline of rural Maharashtra— has not decided to extend the CNG buses in other parts of the state. “CNG should be available in distant places to introduce these services in rural areas,” Gupta said.

Meanwhile, the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking has started running majority of its buses on CNG.

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