Childhood passions and fascinations generally diminish for many as they grow up, but for few others they have become goals to achieve in life, Biswajit Baruah, Son of Late Dilip Kumar Baruah and Rekha Baruah, a native of Guwahati, Assam has a similar story. A native Assamese staying at Belagavi, Karnataka is an inspired Bus Entrepreneur, Enthusiast, Journalist and a Amateur CV-Photographer.

Buses have been a childhood passion for Biswajit. A product of KLS Gogte Institute of Technology, Belagavi - Biswajit is the founder and CEO of Hive Sustainable Solutions, a Belagavi based start up company, which deals with providing sustainable solutions of bus fleet operations and bus industry as a whole, in India. Biswajit has worked previously as a 'Mentor and Director' of a Bengaluru based start-up 'Bus-Bucket' and its sister concern 'Ozobus' , before starting his own venture - 'Hive' at Belagavi. Biswajit has expertise in Automobile and Bus Journalism. His initial start up initiative of Blog Writing through his Bus Blog took him to work as a freelance 'Consulting Editor' to India's premium Commercial Vehicle Magazine - 'Motor India'. He is also a guest writer for Belagavi's premiere news and current affairs website - 'All About Belgaum'.

Biswajit started his passion as an amateur Bus Photographer and till date have captured more than 100,000 pictures of buses. He is fond of gaining and sharing technical knowledge about mechanics and electronics which drive buses. He also likes heavy commercial vehicles like trucks, excavators, cranes etc. Biswajit visits expos and exhibitions Pan India to meet people from the bus and CV Industry and to learn about products and latest technologies. His Blog and his facebook page - 'Biswajit - SVM Chaser' is followed by many top bus companies and OEMs for insights and feedback. Biswajit is well known amongst the bus fleet operators in India and is well recognized by the top operators like VRL Travels, SRS Travels and KSRTC in Karnataka, for his views and insights regarding sustainable bus fleet operations and services.

With a Pan-India approach, Biswajit stresses on the required effort for sustainable bus transport in India. He believes that Passenger Service and the Bus Crew Category is the most sought area, which needs urgent attention to bring streamline development in bus services across the country. He is currently working in the fields of Smart Mobility, Bus Codes, Inter-Modal Transport, Sustainable Transport, Biofuel Drivelines, Zero Carbon footprint initiatives, ITS (Intelligent Transport Systems), MaaS (Mobility as a Service), Big Data, PPP (Public Private Partnership), Smart Ticketing, Contactless Payments, Electric Drivelines, Smart City Initiatives, Passenger Safety and Security, Digital Solutions for Vehicle Maintenance and Monitoring.

Biswajit have been highlighted by various print and digital media in the country for his passion for buses, which includes - 'The New Indian Express', 'Times Of India', 'All About Belgaum', 'Scania India Blog', 'Vijayavani Karnataka (VRL Media)', 'Darshan Belgaum', and 'Vijay Karnataka'. He was felicitated by Rotary Club of Dharwad Central, Karnataka for his outstanding contribution to the Bus Industry especially in the areas of sustainable transport solutions. Biswajit, won the Indian Achiever's Award for the 'Promising Start Up' Category in 2022, adding another achievement to his tally.

Apart from India, Biswajit is followed by and contacted by top bus experts from European countries like Sweden, Germany, Belgium, Norway, Finland and Asian Countries like Bangladesh, China, Nepal and Indonesia. With a zeal for his passion for buses and commercial vehicle industry, Biswajit have dared to dream big on his entrepreneur ventures to develop Indian Bus Industry, encompassing whole of India.

Konduskar B9R Multiaxle VOLVO Journey Review

2:20:00 AM Biswajit SVM Chaser 3 Comments

Operator : Konduskar travels

Category : B9R Multiaxle VOLVO Semi Sleeper

Regd Number : MH09 BC 9450

Journey Route : Kolhapur to Pune

Date of Journey : 28th December 2012

Departure (Kolhapur) : 11:15 hrs (Royal Plaza, Dhabolkar Chowk)

Arrival (Pune) : 15:45 hrs (Dandekar Pool)

Amenities : Television Entertainment

Fare : Rs 400/- (Now Rs 500/-)

Journey Scheduling and Booking :

It was in the last week of December 2012, that I decided to go to Pune, via Kolhapur. This time, I made up my mind to travel to Pune by Konduskar B9R Multiaxle, as I had heard a lot about Konduskar from my fellow Bus fans and also I haven’t tried Konduskar ever before. After making up my mind I set off to Kolhapur from Belgaum on the morning of 28th December with Konduskar Journey on my mind. As, the year end was near I was expecting a rush for seats, although I kept my fingers crossed for a seat on Konduskar to Pune.

After a two and half hours of journey from NWKRTC luxury coach I reached Kolhapur Central Bus Stand (CBS) at 10:00 hrs in the morning. After getting down at CBS I headed off to Konduskar booking office at Royal Plaza, Dhabolkar chowk, which is at a walking distance from CBS.

I booked my ticket on the 11:15 hrs Konduskar B9R Multiaxle VOLVO from Kolhapur to Pune (Dandekar Pool). Luckily I got seat number : 23 (encircled in red on the seat lay out figure) on the middle row of the B9R.

Here is the layout of seats in Konduskar B9R multiaxle VOLVO :

Journey Day :

With my booking done, I headed for a quick breakfast near to Royal Plaza. After having my breakfast I returned to Konduskar office and sat at the departure lounge, waiting for my B9R to arrive.

Unfortunately, the office told us about a delay of the multiaxle departure by a good 40 mins, which was due to a delay because of a break down. It was very unexpected, but I had nothing to do at that moment, but to wait till 12:00 mid noon for its delayed departure L It was a frustrating 45 minutes, until the beautiful metallic green B9R – MH09 BC 9450 arrived at Royal Plaza for departure to Pune at near to 12:00 hrs mid noon.

I boarded the B9R and headed off to my seat at the middle row. The seater coach was very well maintained inside, clean and ambient. The reclining seat was comfortable and air conditioning was good. I guess they had kept it on for sometime before arriving at the first pick up at Royal Plaza.

After the pick up at Royal plaza, the B9R started its journey to Pune, although with a delay of good 45 minutes. It did a pick up at Maharaja hotel, before its final pick up at wattar and peth naka, before heading finally to Karad.

The driving was very sedate, and he had kept a average speed of around 80 kmph at day time, keeping in mind the mid day traffic on NH4.

Soon we reached Karad, and it did a pick up again before heading towards Satara. I was very anxious for its tea break at Milestone as it gives me the chance to click pics of the B9R and other multiaxles of Konduskar’s and Shivneri VOLVO B7R Mark 3’s which arrive there for a break. :)

Finally, we reached Hotel Milestone near Satara on NH4 for a tea cum bio-break. As expected I started with my multiaxle photography.

Here are some pics of my metallic green Konduskar VOLVO B9R multiaxle that I clicked in milestone :

I was also enthralled to catch one of my favorite Konduskar B9R multiaxle – MH09 BC 8163 with Incredible India livery :)

which was on Pune – Kolhapur route.

A few MSRTC Shivneri’s also joined, for some pose :

After a 35 minutes break, we headed off towards Pune from milestone (Satara) at around 14:45 hrs. With an initial delay of 45 minutes, I was expecting to reach Dandekar pool (Pune) by around 17:00 hrs, keeping in mind Pune traffic at that time. The driver picked up speed, and was cruising at around 90-100 kmph (B9R’s were not locked below 100 in 2012) at that stretch from Satara to Pune, as he was already late. I dozed off quickly after leaving milestone, as I was feeling sleepy. I was enjoying nice ride of the Konduskar B9R, I woke up at around 16:45 hrs when it entered Pune City.

After cruising through busy city lanes of Pune at around 17:00 hrs, we finally reached Dandekar Pool by 17:25 hrs, a 1 hour 40 mins delay due initial departure hiccups at Kolhapur.

Overall a nice and comfortable journey by Konduskar B9R, with the exclusion of the delayed departure at Kolhapur :)

Summary and Ratings :

Crew : Without uniform, Well behaved Rating : 3/5

Bus maintenance and Amenities : Good reclining seats, well maintained interiors, No mineral water bottles. Rating : 3/5

Speeding : Well and sedate driven at max speed of 90 - 100 kmph, No unusual overtakes, Delayed Departure by 40 mins and delayed arrival in Pune (Not acceptable) Rating : 3/5

Overall rating : 3/5

Conclusion and feedback :

Overall, I enjoyed a nice journey with Konduskar B9R Multiaxle VOLVO from Kolhapur to Pune. The multiaxle was well maintained except the left side rear view mirror had some issues. Nice cosy interiors and good air conditioning. The exceptional delay of 40 minutes in Kolhapur due to official reasons was a reason that have affected the journey review ratings. :)

There are people who depend on the operators for maintaining exact departure and arrival timings both to and fro on the routes, for their further travel schedules like catching a flight etc. So an unexpected 40 minutes delay from the starting point is not at all acceptable at any cost in my view.

Will I recommend the operator on this route : YES (provided departure and arrival timings are maintained). :)

3 comments:

AnonymousSeptember 4, 2014 at 6:30 AM
Kondukar is BIG FRAUD travel operator. I had booked 9 PM 2nd Sep Volvo Multi Axle Sleeper. After starting within 5 mins, the bus stopped at the side of the road. The drivers started talking about some AC problem and guess what... within 5 mor eminutes, another ORDINARY, OLD sleeper bus arrived and they told us to move into it as the Volvo required quite some time to "fix the problem".

This clearly was cheating as they actually wanted to use the *same* Volvo bus for 10 PM trip.

Basically, the scam here is, Konduskar probably takes bookings for 2 or more Volvo Sleeper Multi Axle bus each day, but they actually have only one "REAL" Volvo Multi Axle bus running which they use for one of the trips having the passengers of other trips to board in ORDINARY buses.

There are enough reviews by others over the net mentioning same problem on Bangalore-Kolhapur-Bangalore by Konduskar.
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SwathiJanuary 11, 2017 at 2:07 PM
Great service from Konduskar Travels They have many buses travelling in different routes
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Interviewed by New Indian Express

On 3rd of September 2014, i was being interviewed by The New Indian Express Newspaper, in Belgaum (Karnataka) about my hobby of clicking and sharing pictures of Scania, VOLVO and Mercedes benz Buses. On 4th of September 2014, The New Indian Express shared my interview and thoughts about the same in their Belgaum edition. It was one of the most happiest moments in my life. I was happy that my hard work paid off with a good public support. Click on the above The New Indian Express Logo to read my interview.

Interviewed by Times of India

On 2nd June, 2015, I was being interviewed by Times of India Newspaper, in Belgaum (Karnataka), about my hobby and passion of clicking and sharing pics, and technical information on Scania, VOLVO and Mercedes Benz Buses, Trucks and other Heavy Commercial Vehicles. On 7th June 2015, Times of India Hubballi (Hubli) edition shared my interview. Being interviewed and focused into limelight for the second time, was a matter of great honor for me and for my passion. I was not only happy to see the good wishes coming in from my friends and my professors in college. But the enormous support from the people of transport and vehicle manufacturing industry in India and nice public support, have really inspired me to go ahead with my entrepreneur goals in life. Click on the above Times of India logo to read my interview.

Interviewed by Vijayavani Karnataka

Vijayavani is a part of the prestigious VRL group of Karnataka, which has VRL Travels also a part of its empire. My passionate story of my passion for Buses and Heavy Commercial Vehicles was well written by Vijayavani and i would like to thank them from my core of my heart for highlighting me and keeping my story in front of people. My story getting published in Kannada is a matter of happiness for me. Reaching to the public of State of Karnataka is a great joy for me, as i feel its the State of Karnataka - the land of VOLVO and Scania which have helped me to stand on my foot with success and so much of support from general public. Click on the above logo to read my interview to Vijayavani