Mumbai: With Ganeshotsav just days away, MSRTC staff on strike

Passengers wait in anticipation at Kurla’s Nehru Nagar ST depot on Tuesday after MSRTC staff went on strike. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi

Employees of Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC), one of India's largest bus fleets in the country, have called a strike from Tuesday morning to press for their pending demands close on the heels of Ganpati festival. The corporation has been preparing to operate a record number of 5,000 additional buses for the festival this year. As of Monday afternoon, 4,953 additional buses for the Konkan region had been fully booked between September 3 and September 7, with 4,200 group bookings in place.

To keep traffic and services moving in the backdrop of the strike, the MSRTC administration is also considering the appointment of drivers and other necessary employees on long-term contract basis from Wednesday. Late in the evening, the industrial court declared the MSRTC workers' strike as illegal, directing all employees to resume work as early as possible.

Because of the agitation called by the action committee of 11 labour unions, till 5 pm on September 3, of the 251 bus depots, 59 were fully shut. The rest of the 77 bus depots were partially or fully open. Among the several demands by employees is the key demand of salary revision at par with state government employees and disbursement of arrears of dearness allowance.

Bus operations of Ganpati special buses for Konkan from Mumbai, Thane and Palghar remained normal on Tuesday, but services are likely to be affected on Wednesday. The closure of bus workshops can also lead to problems due to lack of maintenance and repair of such a huge number of buses. "Of the 22,389 planned regular bus trips across the state, 11,943 trips had to be cancelled because of the strike, with 50 per cent of state transport traffic affected, leading to a loss of R14 crore to R15 crore so far," a MSRTC spokesperson said.

"The MSRTC administration has appealed to striking employees to resume work and not inconvenience passengers during festival time," he added. The Mumbai-Pune Shivneri e-bus services also remained normal as of Tuesday. In Thane division Kalyan and Vithalwadi bus depots remained completely closed. In Vidarbha division, all bus depots were completely functional and the effect of the bandh was not much. However, most of the ST workshops in Latur and Nanded divisions of Marathwada were closed.

In Western Maharashtra, the traffic in Kolhapur and Solapur division was running smoothly. Bus depots in Pune district Shivajinagar, Vallabhnagar, Bhor, Saswad, Baramati, Talegaon remained completely closed. Miraj, Jat, Palus are completely closed in Sangli district. Also, Karad, Vaduj, Mahabaleshwar bus depots in Satara district also remained completely closed. In Khandesh, Nashik, Pimpalgaon, Peth bus depots in Nashik district and Bhusawal, Chalisgaon depots in Jalgaon district are completely closed. Traffic is running smoothly at other places.

Meanwhile, talks between state Industries Minister Uday Samant and the Action Committee of ST Employees Unions ended in a deadlock. Samant appealed that passengers should not be inconvenienced during Ganeshotsav. However, ST employees remained adamant and have stated that till their demands are not met, the strike will continue. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde will intervene and has agreed to hold a meeting on Wednesday evening. The action committee will discuss the issue with Shinde on Wednesday evening at Sahyadri guest house and take a further call.

Court has ruled strike illegal

Late in the evening, the industrial court declared the MSRTC workers' strike as illegal, directing all employees to resume work as early as possible. The MSRTC administration has directed the local ST depots to file an FIR against the striking workers who try to stop employees from resuming work. Instructions have also been issued to video-record all incidents to gather enough evidence for future action.

Ganesh pandal applications soar

This year, a greater number of Sarvajanik mandals applied for pandal permissions. With three days left before the city's largest festival, the BMC has received 3,140 applications and approved 2,080 of them. The remaining applications are still under review by the BMC, police, and traffic authorities. In comparison, last year, 3,102 applications were submitted, with 2,729 pandals receiving permission by the day before Ganesh Chaturthi. Traditionally, the BMC manages around 10,000 Sarvajanik Ganesh idols for immersion at both artificial and natural sites. However, only a third of these receive permission.

"Permission is necessary for pandals in public areas, including roads and open spaces. Even setting up a shed on private property requires BMC approval. Historically, permissions for private sites were handled offline. This year, the process has moved online, which we anticipate will increase the number of applications," said a BMC official. Additionally, since each Sarvajanik mandal is counted as two idols, this further inflates the total number of idols at immersion sites. "Many mandals encountered internet issues when submitting permission forms. We reported this problem to the BMC last week," said Naresh Dahibaonkar. BMC officials have confirmed that the issue has now been resolved. Although more applications are pending this year compared to last, where 373 were rejected, BMC officials are confident that most will be approved.