Mumbai: BEST bus strike continues on sixth day; 796 buses remain off roads

Pic/PTI

Drivers of private bus operators hired by the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking continued their BEST bus strike for the sixth day on Monday over salary hike and other demands.

According to Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport's (BEST) spokesperson Sunil Vaidya, As many as 796 wet-leased buses of the private operators remained off the roads.

The official said the BEST was doing maximum utilisation of its own drivers and it operated 603 wet-leased buses with its own drivers. 122 buses of the state-owned Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) were pressed into service to avoid any inconvenience to commuters.

Action is being taken action against the bus operators as per the terms and conditions in the agreements with them, the official added.

The drivers of the private bus operators launched the strike on July 2 over the salary hike and other demands.

The drivers of private bus operators launched the strike on Wednesday over the salary hike and other demands. The majority of drivers of the BEST's four big private bus operators - Mateshwari, SMT (Daga group), Hansa and Tata Motors are part of the strike.

On the first day of the stir, only 160 wet-leased buses were off the roads, while the number went beyond 1,000 on the second day, which further rose to more than 1,300 buses on Friday, causing immense hardships to regular commuters.

On Saturday also, more than 1,000 buses stayed off roads, as per the officials. On Saturday, 1,077 buses did not leave 18 depots, including Backbay, Colaba, Worli, Andak, Pratiksha Nagar, Dharavi, Deonar, Shivaji Nagar, Ghatkopar, Mulund, Marol, Majas, Dindoshi, Shivaji Nagar, Oshiwara, Malvani, Gorai and Magathane.

On Sunday, as many as 704 wet-leased buses of the private operators remained off the roads. Bus operations were affected at 18 depots.

The BEST has hired buses on a wet lease model under which private operators have the responsibility for the vehicle ownership, maintenance, fuel and driver costs.

The undertaking's fleet of around 3,100 buses (including its own 1,340 buses) ferries more than 30 lakh people in Mumbai and neighbouring Thane, Navi Mumbai and Mira-Bhayandar every day.

(With inputs from PTI)