BEST bus operations in Mumbai remained affected on the second consecutive day on Friday as drivers of wet-leased contract buses refused to work, protesting against non-payment of salaries for a period of three months. About 200 bus drivers at Bandra, Vikhroli and Wadala depots refused to take to the wheel, hitting morning rush hour with over 175 buses lying idle. The strike ended in the afternoon after Shiv Sena committee member Suhas Samant mediated between protestors and the management of the contractor.

Passengers upset

“There was no bus in the morning on a working day. BEST services have become erratic and there are new complaints every day. Many a times, their AC buses work with windows open, many times the buses skip halts and the staff is very rude and today there were no buses with long queues at bus stops and no one willing to tell what had happened,” Ramesh Sobajkar, a Ghatkopar resident said.