This gesture was on behalf of the members of the committee, stewards, staff and workers of the RWITC, to convey their deep and sincere appreciation for the soldiers fighting in Kargil.

The cheque was handed over to Brig Madan Gopal, Commander, Pune Sub Area by Dr Cyrus Poonawalla, chairman of RWITC at the Sub Area office on Thursday.

PMT wants 250 more buses n THE general manager of Pune Municipal Transport (PMT) Subhash Lolge has forwarded a proposal to Municipal Commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad for purchasing 250 new buses.

In his proposal, Lolge has suggested that the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) should provide Rs 25 crore to the PMT. The PMT would raise the required amount through loan on the amount provided by the civic body, the proposal added.

The PMT had last year decided to do away with the old and outdated buses. However, the decision could not be implemented as the PMT did not have the money required to purchase the new buses to replace the old ones.

The PMT had earlier proposed to accept money from the civic body to purchase 117 new buses.

The new buses have not been purchased yet as the proposal is still pending.Lolge's proposal also recommended that the PMT should purchase 110 new buses every year for the next five years. As per a high court ruling, the PMT will have to abandon use of the buses which are in service for a tenure of more than 10 years. Lolge's proposal said the PMT will have 960 buses after five years. Later on, it added, the losses incurred by the PMT will start decreasing. The PMT has suffered a total loss of Rs 104 crore during the last five years.