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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.
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Neeta B9R Multiaxle VOLVO Journey Review

2:20:00 AM Biswajit SVM Chaser 0 Comments

Operator : Neeta Tours and Travels
Category : B9R Multiaxle VOLVO Semi Sleeper
Regd Number : KA01 AA 6287
Journey Route : Pune (Nigdi/Swargate) to Kolhapur
Date of Journey : 10th May 2014
Departure (Pune) : 06:00 hrs (Nigdi) / 06:30 hrs (Aundh) / 07:00 hrs (Swargate)
Arrival (Kolhapur) : 11:45 hrs (Near Kolhapur CBS)
Amenities : Television Entertainment
Fare : Rs 500/- 

Journey Scheduling and Booking :

After finishing my personal work at Pune, I decided to return back to Belgaum, but due to the heavy rush all night buses to Belgaum, including NWKRTC Airavat multiaxles via Pune were showing fully booked status.
Hence I shifted to my alternative plan to go back to Belgaum via Kolhapur. As I was in Aundh, Parihar chowk, boarding Neeta VOLVO multiaxle from Neeta office and pick up point, opposite city international school, Aundh was a convenient option for me.
So I headed towards the Neeta office at Aundh Parihar chowk to book my ticket to Kolhapur. To my luck, I was being told that only the last 5 seats in the last row of the selected morning 06:00 hrs Nigdi multiaxle are remaining vacant, rest all have been booked. Out of choice I booked seat numbers 19 and 20 (encircled in red in the seat layout figure) for me and my mom. :( 

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


I received the booking confirmation sms from Neeta on my mobile with PNR and other details : 


Journey Day :

On 10th morning, I was at the Neeta office cum pick up point in Aundh, Pune at 06:00 hrs in the morning; the departure from Aundh was scheduled at 06:30 hrs.
I received a sms from LM-Neeta at 06:26 hrs with details regarding the bus number and pick up man name and his mobile number : 


I was surprised to see KA01 AA 6287 being mentioned as the coach number, a former B9R on erstwhile Mumbai – Bangalore route. Good to see that Neeta is using its spare B9R’s of Bangalore route on intra state destinations in Maharashtra.
At 06:35 am, with a 5 minutes delay, the grey multiaxle arrived at the pick up point at Aundh. I and my mom boarded the bus and headed off to the last row, as we got the last seats unfortunately.
While heading towards the last row I observed that the whole bus had semi sleeper seats, unlike the regular B9R’s on Kolhapur route which have semi sleeper seats from A to Z including A1 and A2, and reclining seater seats from 1 to 20 as observed from the seating arrangement figure below : 


After boarding the multiaxle at Aundh, it headed towards Neeta Mitramandal Chowk, Swargate Office, with a pick up at Kothrud Office, in between. 
At 06:55 hrs, it reached Neeta swargate office, where the last reserved passengers boarded the bus. It was a long wait till, 07:25 hrs till the bus finally left swargate. Boarding delays by passengers always happens as I have observed on my previous Neeta multiaxle journeys too. 07:00 hrs was the scheduled departure timing, but the delayed departure due to boarding delay of passengers leaves the staff calling them on their mobile numbers. :( 

Finally at 07:25 hrs, our grey cruiser left swargate, Pune for Kolhapur. I liked the interior of the multiaxle it was well maintained as far as seats are concerned. AC cooling was good. While, some of the AC vent controls knobs were missing, a negative rating on that. Seat number 19, on which I was seating had a missing AC vent control knob, because of which I was feeling little uncomfortable.

No blankets are provided on board, as it is a short day journey, but I would have expected them to give mineral water bottles, which they don’t provide, another negative rating.

As we reached katraj, I saw the multiaxle slowing down for a pick up. One passenger with reservation got on board and we approached katraj ghat thereafter to touch NH4 highway towards Kolhapur.

Soon we approached khambatki ghat section, the Neeta Multiaxle was going  sedately in the ghat. Driving was decent, and curves along the ghat section were taken slowly and perfectly.
As we descended the ghat section, we approached Hotel Abhiruchi, near Wai Phata. At 9:00 am we reached Abhiruchi, for a Breakfast cum bio- break.

The break gave me a chance to click some pics of the grey multiaxle B9R. :)

Here are some pics of the Neeta B9R Multiaxle VOLVO Semi Sleeper coach that I clicked at Hotel Abhiruchi, Wai Phata :





We were also joined by a Neeta Mercedes Benz 2+2 Biaxle , which was doing Pune - Mahabaleshwar 


After my photo-shoot, I met the Neeta office in charge, at abhiruchi, whom I have met earlier along with Pune Neeta Swargate Office staff, when we once travelled together on Neeta Hino from Kolhapur to Pune. I exchanged greetings with him, before boarding the bus, as we left for Kolhapur.

While checking my pics on my Nikon D5100 DSLR, I thought of checking the multiaxle speed, on my android speedo app. Here is what I observed :


I was feeling sleepy, as I had wake up early that morning for the journey. I was observing the speed upto Satara, Neeta did 90 kmph at max. After Satara, I dozed off, woke up at Wattar, near Kolhapur. The bus entered Kolhapur at 12:10 hrs and reached Kolhapur CBS at 12:30 hrs. A good 45 mins delay, from its scheduled arrival at 11:45 hrs.  I basically don’t prefer delays which can be avoided at times. I got down near Kolhapur CBS at 12:30 hrs and approached CBS (Central Bus Stand) for my next journey schedule to Belgaum.
Overall a fair rated journey, but was happy to reach Kolhapur comfortably and safely. :) 

Summary and Ratings :

Crew : Without uniform, didn’t like the way they speak with passengers. Rating : 1/5

Bus maintenance and Amenities : Good semi sleeper seats, Fairly maintained interiors, No mineral water bottles. Rating : 2.5/5

Speeding : Well and sedate driven at max speed of 90 kmph, No unusual overtakes, Good driving in Ghat section. Rating : 4.5/5

Overall rating : 2.67/5

Conclusion and feedback :

Overall, I will mention it as a fair journey. I liked the way the multiaxle was driven especially at Ghat Section, also the driver had maintained at good sedate speed.

On the negative aspect, here are some laggings I have observed :
a) Very few times I have observed Neeta crew in uniform. The crew was not in uniform, not acceptable to me.
b) Fair behavior of the crew towards passengers. Not acceptable.
c) Improper exterior body maintenance
d) Interior AC vent control knobs missing on many seats
e) No mineral water bottles being provided onboard. Peak of summer season, atleast complimentary mineral water bottles are expected.

Will I recommend the operator on this route : Cant SAY. :)

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