nagpur villagers including farmers students elderly and women in maregaon tehsil of yavatmal district are forced to walk 16km or take other overcrowded modes of transport as the maharashtra state transport corporation msrtc bus service remains a distant dreammaregaon is an tribaldominated tehsil with over a hundred villages despite numerous pleas and protests by villagers and organizations in the last three decades the tehsil is yet to get a msrtc bus stand around four years ago a land was allotted for a bus stand but the service never took off villagers use a mix of different transport modes they walk or ride in overcrowded tumtum autorickshaws to reach the bus stop in wani a town 16km away in the district said rajiv khobragade member of ngo platformthe ngo visited maregaon recently after one of its members a law student raised the issue the student is studying in nagpur he lives in a hostel as he cant travel back home frequently some even dropout because of poor connectivity not having msrtc bus service affects the overall development of maregaon said khobragadethe lack of a bus stand severely hampers passenger transport and connectivity leaving people at the mercy of unreliable modes of transport or are forced to endure long arduous journey on foot said nikhilesh meshram another member of the ngosahil sheikh member of the platform and a resident of wani said a bus stand is a dire necessity for the welfare of lakhs of people residing in maregaon and the surrounding areas it will provide them with reliable efficient and safe transportation options improving their overall quality of life and unlocking opportunities for progresson behalf of the villagers the ngo has appealed to the chief minister transport department and yavatmal district collector to initiate construction of the muchawaited bus standan official from the yavatmal st civil works section said that around 3000 sq ft land and funds had been allocated for a bus stand the first instalment was released to buy the land but we fell short of funds for constructing the bus stand now the procedure is stuck for want of funds he saidkhobragade sought immediate appointment of ministers for critical departments like social welfare and transport that impact millions of people this is imperative to address public issues and enhance governance in the state he said