NMC's Nagpur Darshan buses from this month

However, there are concerns that these buses could go the way of the 'Ladies Special' buses launched on International Women's Day (March 8). Just after few months after their launch the ladies special buses were discontinued abruptly by the city bus service operator Vansh Nimay Infraprojects Limited (VNIL).

Nagpur Mahanagar Parivahan Limited (NMPL) executive director Mahesh Morone, though, said that this is a step to boost tourism and make Nagpur a brand name. "Initially, we plan to start special Nagpur Darshan buses for tourists, which will cover prominent places like Deekshabhoomi, Tekdi Ganpati, Zero Mile, Smruti Mandir in Reshimbagh, Raman Science Centre, Futala Lake, Sitabuldi Fort, Poddareshwar Ram Mandir, Tajbag durgah, Koradi Devi Mandir and Dragon Palace at Kamptee, during the daylong trip (8am to 8pm). Blind and physically-challenged persons will be given free passes of the Nagpur Darshan buses," he said.

Morone added, "In the next phase, we have also planned Destination Nagpur buses, which will cover tourist places like Ramtek, Adasa, Dhapewada, Pench project, Jamsaoli, Karmazari and even the Wadgaon dam (popularly known as Rama dam) in a daylong tour, with affordable tickets for visitors and citizens."

"For tourist buses like Destination Nagpur, which will operate beyond city limits, we need permission from divisional commissioner BV Gopala Reddy. We have applied for it and will start the services as soon as we get the green signal," he said.

However, there were similar tall promises by mayor Archana Dehankar and the then municipal commissioner Aseem Gupta at the launch of the ladies special buses at a glittering ceremony organized at NMC's Civil Lines headquarters. They had announced plans to appoint lady conductors on these buses to provide women commuters safer travel, and the buses were to be strictly run as ladies special, with only children under 12 years of age allowed on them.

Neither promise was fulfilled and nor did the special buses operate on routes announced, women commuters had complained.

Morone explained, "Initially the Ladies Special buses were operated every hour from Dighori, Hudkeshwar, Pardi, Hingna, Jaitala and Kamptee to Sitabuldi and onwards to connect office and market areas. We had deployed a dozen 28-seater buses on these routes. However, the poor load factor forced VNIL to discontinue services."

He added, "Actually, women commuters were not aware about the Ladies Special buses launched for them. Further, the operator failed to make it popular among the ladies. Now, we are planning to restart the services with a proper time table and according to the convenience of woman commuters."