02 April,2021 05:16 AM IST | Mumbai | Rajendra B. Aklekar
The BEST pole is hidden behind a tree, making it difficult for commuters to find the bus stop; (right) the broken slabs at a bus stop in Saki Naka
Exactly a year ago, the BEST and the BMC jointly decided to repair and renovate bus stops in the city. But, today, scores of bus stops across the city remain in a dilapidated state because the project is yet to take off.
Meanwhile, the number of buses and routes have gone up, and the fleet, too, has seen an increase with wet lease and MSRTC buses.
"The MHADA Colony to Vaze College in Mulund East bus has started, and has a very good frequency too. But the condition of the stops is very bad. One has to literally look for them. The bus had been discontinued for some time, but has now restarted and mostly the old timers remember the bus stops, not everyone. The BEST should do a survey of the condition of its bus stops before restarting routes," said Harsha Joshi, a resident of Mulund.
A look at BEST's Twitter profile reveals the same story. It has numerous complaints of bus stops in bad state. The undertaking, however, seems prompt on the social media platform in acknowledging and fixing the issue. For example, a commuter, Domnic, complained about a broken bus stop at Saki Naka State Bank and the BEST immediately responded saying the concerned civil engineering department has been informed to do the needful.
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"Why can't BEST take holistic action and take up improvement of bus stops on its own?" asked Jitendra Gupta of Citizen Transport Committee.
BEST officials said bus stops are categorised and not all are maintained by the Undertaking. "A few belong to the MMRDA who have contracted the maintenance and some have been adopted by advertising companies. So, it would be unfair to blame the BEST, which is always responsive to commuters' complaints and solves them on priority basis. All complaints are attended in 48 hours," he added.
Central Railway on Thursday placed a steam locomotive outside the historic Thane station to commemorate the first run of a train. It was in April 1853 that India's first train had run between Boree Bunder to Thane. "An old steam locomotive that was at Mumbai CSMT Heritage gully has been shifted to Thane to evoke nostalgia," a CR spokesperson said. The locomotive is from the Barsi Light Railway with a gauge of 2 feet and 6 inches. It was manufactured in 1928.
