Some use regular BEST buses while others walk or take a share taxi
Devotees at Siddhivinayak temple. File pic/Pradeep Dhivar
This paper had a prominent front-page report about Mumbai’s knight in shiny red armour, the BEST bus arriving to save the thousands of devotees flocking to Siddhivinayak Mandir. They usually make their way from Dadar to the Prabhadevi temple and back to Dadar station. Some use regular BEST buses while others walk or take a share taxi.
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Our reports state that share taxis often charge high fares to ferry persons, and people are at the mercy of their drivers. It is heartening that they will have an alternative, and at the same time, authorities must crack down hard on the share-a-cab drivers who are duping and blackmailing people, literally holding them to ransom to ferry them to the spot. While here the focus is on Siddhivinayak, there are other places with high footfalls and commuters who pay exorbitant amounts to get to one place and the next. Auto-rickshaw and taxicab drivers who overcharge customers need to be brought to book.
Once the menace is nipped in the bud, we have to see that it is permanent, the action taken is lasting and the same pattern does not re-emerge as soon as things cool down a little.
Meanwhile, buses may be welcome but a visionary approach is required, so that the area does not become choked. The temple site is extremely congested and it is very challenging for people to walk, cross or even simply get from one point to another. There are high footfalls, so there are many hawkers too, on the pavements. It is important to take all these factors into account as good intentions followed by good initiatives, may inadvertently result in chaos on an already very challenging stretch. The service starting is good news, but plans must be in place about how to deal with the vehicular density.
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