Mumbai: As BEST bus strike enters Day 5, regular drivers get bullied

As the contractual staff's strike entered the fifth day, the BEST Undertaking was on Sunday forced to seek police protection at its Malwani depot where its permanent employees were threatened into halting services on Saturday.

There was an incident on Saturday at Malwani bus depot in Malad after which we filed a complaint. Following the complaint, two police vans have been guarding the depot and there has been no untoward incident since," a BEST spokesperson said.

The contractual employees forcefully halt a bus, at Malwani bus depot, on Saturday

A video went viral on social media, showing several contractual employees, not in uniform, forcefully halting a bus at Malwani bus depot on Saturday. They were seen abusing and threatening the bus driver and barging into the vehicle.

The BEST administration on Saturday held a meeting with private contract companies to resolve the issues. In the meantime, about 150 state transport buses have been pressed into service for the city's needs.

On Sunday morning, as many as 704 wet lease buses of the private operators remained off roads. Of the 27 depots, operations were affected at 18 bus depots.
On the first day of the strike, only 160 wet lease buses were off roads, while the number stayed above 1,000 until Saturday.

The wet lease contractors' employees are on a strike for better wages and have also been demanding better amenities at bus depots. At present, the Undertaking has a fleet of about 3,061 buses, of which 1,671 belong to wet lease contractors and 1,390 to the BEST. The Undertaking has said it will penalise contractors and levy fines of R5,000 per bus, per day for the duration of the strike.