Mumbai: Citizen forum calls public meet to discuss issues with BEST bus services

The big red bus Mumbais transport saviour on numerous occasions fourwheeled hero of the commuting landscape especially in the monsoon season now needs some saving itself Aamchi Mumbai Aamchi BEST AMAB a citizens forum pushing for a publiclyowned affordable accessible and decent bus transport in the city has invited people for a public hearingmeeting on the BEST on April 26 from 3 pm to 6 pm at the Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh opposite BMC building CST at Azad MaidanThe deficitsThe AMAB cited in its invitation doing the rounds on social media that there is a ldquoworsening crisis in the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport BESTrdquo It added ldquoIn 2017 the BEST management and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC declared Mumbais public service as inefficient and lossmaking and introduced private operators as a way of reducing its mounting deficits However the AMAB stated that this policy has lsquoworsened the situationrsquo as apart from BESTs deficits which continue to mount the bus service is faced with all the problems that private operations have unleashed on commuters and citizens such as defaulting contractors breakdown of buses discontented workers inconvenienced commuters and inadequate and poorquality servicesrdquoHussain Indorewala coconvenor AMABThe AMAB added ldquoThe public hearing aims to bring together individual commuters and organisations from different parts of the city document their experiences with public transport trace the root causes of the present crisis and find solutions which are propeople and sustainablerdquoThe awarenessVidyadhar Date convenor AMAB clarified ldquoWhen we say solutions you must realise that not everything is automatic or instant The public meeting is about creating awareness that the big red bus needs to be saved Life for commuters will be miserable without these buses We need to find our voices and have a platform to express our viewsrdquoWhen asked about the Metro that is and will add a new dimension to Mumbais transport Date insisted ldquoTravelling via Metro means one will have to switch different lines to the destination So the BEST bus is the mode of transport that gives complete connectivityrdquo Date added that with decreasing buses etc ldquothe public transport system will be systematically killed and motorised options encouragedrdquoAnswering a specific question about the financial problems of the BEST Date said ldquoIt is the state government that has to take full responsibility for the service A substantial amount has been given to the Metro why not funds to the BEST It is unjust to favour one mode of transport over anotherrdquo The crunchCoconvenor of AMAB Hussain Indorewala said of the financial crunch besetting the bus service ldquoIt is important to remember that the financial crisis of BEST is a creation of the authorities the BEST management and the BMC The financial crisis will disappear if the BMC agrees to subsidise and operate BEST as a part of its budget which it is legally mandated to do anyway But the plan seems to be to manufacture a crisis and through it a pretext to hand over operations to contractors force people out of buses and into metros and hand over BEST land to buildersrdquoOur demandsIndorewala added ldquoWe should all demand that BEST be restored as a fully publicly operated service no contractor operated or private buses that the number of buses should be increased to at least 6000 that bus lanes are provided on major routes and used primarily for buses that the BMC operate BEST as part of its budget and that the plans to sell depots to builders euphemistically called lsquomonetisationrsquo should immediately be withdrawnrdquo In the end Indorewalla said about the lsquojan sunwairsquo ldquoWe will be preparing a report of peoples testimonies as well as comments of the panellists at the meet and submit a report to the authoritiesrdquolsquoJan SunwairsquoAt Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh opposite BMC building CSMTOn Saturday April 26From 3 pm to 6 pmEntry Open no registration neededatOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params