Mumbai rains: After metro station floods with water; experts favour BEST service

As Mumbaikars were tempted to reach for their scuba diving gear on Monday one of the most debated aspects of the deluge was the flooding of Worlirsquos Acharya Atre Chowk station on the Mumbai Metro Aqua LineWhile lsquoputting the aqua in Aqua Linersquo was trending through the day with pictures and videos of a submerged station whirring frantically on social media transport analyst Vidyadhar Date said ldquoWe have been talking repeatedly about increasing BEST Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport buses and now the failure at the Metro station gives this more stridencyrdquoLack of understandingDate who is convenor of the selfexplanatory lsquoAamchi Mumbai Aamchi BESTrsquo AMAB a citizens forum pushing for a decent bus transport arm for the city stated first up ldquoThis is not about one service trying to oneup the other It is important to highlight that there is a lack of understanding about what our real transport needs arerdquoDate said that there needs to be ldquomore investment in our bus transport arm so that there are many more buses on the road and commuters do have that option Instead we see a concentration on automobile owners and more cars on the roads toordquoPosh but dysfunctionalDate stated ldquoA summer downpour showed us that water inundated the Metro station There may also be a fear of electrocution I have been hearing all this tall talk about the Metro but the Acharya Atre Chowk station naturally had to be closed yesterday That is why it is vital to look at the BEST for it surely has better connectivity than the Metro So many people are arguing about the Metro service being lsquosoooo poshrsquo when it comes to other services but what is the use of lsquoposhrsquo when it is not workingrdquoDate did concede that BEST buses too may break down during the rains ldquoYet these are fewer and far between compared to other transport modesrdquo he added Like the three Rs mdash reduce reuse and recycle mdash which are used as a conservation mantra for the environment our BEST buses also have three Rs especially during crises mdash resolute resilient and reliable These are the qualities that the BEST had ploughing through our flooded roads slowly but defiantly taking the commuters to their destinationrdquo said Date and added ldquoThere is one more R ndash Real I say this is the real lifeline of MumbairdquoTo the rescueDate reminded that the BEST transport arm ldquohas come to the rescue during monsoon It was the public transport service plying regularly during COVID times Today we have both an early monsoon and we hear about rising COVID cases though I do not want to cause any alarm This was the service that played saviour during the most challenging times Yet I do not understand why it does not figure in the imagination of our city plannersrdquoDate said ldquoSingapore Hong Kong and London continue investing in the bus system though they too have cars Today the monsoon is already upon us and one day has shown us how we need a complete overhaul in thinking about city transport Breakdowns stalled traffic and flooded tracks shut down Metro stations have a lesson for us The bus is not infallible but in the worst of times we could turn to the BESTrdquoatOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params