BEST to spend Rs 1 cr on pest control

Getting rid of pests- rats, cockroaches, bugs or even mosquitoes - is a tough task for any household. However, it is also proving to be a costly affair for the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) Undertaking.

The administration has proposed to spend Rs 1.03 crore on sprinkling pesticide and insecticide across 99 properties, namely bus depots, residential and office buildings, in Mumbai city and its eastern and western suburbs through 2013-14.

What's bugging best? The BEST Undertaking plans to spend Rs 1.03 crore on sprinkling pesticide and insecticide across 99 assets, namely bus depots, residential and office buildings, in Mumbai city and its eastern and western suburbs through 2013-14

"Pests have become a major problem. At times, these pests enter buses from the bus depots causing inconvenience to passengers," said a BEST official.u00a0
The undertaking plans to take help of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to carry out pest control at such a big scale. "It is important to control pests and so we will ask the BMC to begin working on it, maybe by June," said Sanjay Ambole, BEST Chairman.

The BEST will be spending Rs 35.33 lakh on treating buildings and bus depots in the city, Rs 45.52 lakh in the eastern suburbs and Rs 22.19 lakh in the western suburbs. These amounts have been divided on the basis of 19 different wards in Mumbai.u00a0

According to the break-up, BEST will be spending the most - Rs 20 Lakh - in F (north) ward. This covers bus depots at Wadala, Anik Nagar, Prateeksha Nagar and employees' residential buildings at these locations.u00a0

Rs 20L
The maximum amount out of Rs 1.03 crore will be spent in F (north) ward

More FOBs to come up on Elphinstone and Parel stations
Yesterday, the BEST Chairman Sanjay Ambole, Anil Desai and other leaders of Shiv Sena met senior railway officials from Western Railway and asked them for another foot-over bridge at Elphinstone Road and Parel stations as the present one was getting too crowded. Locals have also been demanding for better FOBs because the existing ones are very narrow and is not sufficient.u00a0