BEST plans to stop plying on 52 routes

The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply & Transport (BEST) management faced a huge uproar after it declared 52 routes would be stopped from May. Committee members said that the management slashed the fare of air-conditioned bus by half was a diversionary tactic when almost 11 per cent of the undertakings bus routes would be done away with at once for the first time in its history.

The management approached the committee over the revised air-conditioned bus fares but were in for a rude shock when the committee members began to ask why 52 routes had been cancelled in and around their areas. “The public is knocking on our door asking us why important bus routes that ferried them from home to the station and back have been cancelled,” said committee member Yakub Memon.

Other members like Ravi Raja said the management should have brought the issue for approval earlier. “The management has planned to cancel the routes and according to the rule they have to take our approval before they implement it, but they have brought it to our notice at the very last minute. So this means they want to put us in this position on purpose,” he said.

“In fact I think that the 50 per cent slashing of the BEST air-conditioned fare was to distract us from the mammoth cancellation,” said Mr Raja.

As a result of the 52 cancelled routes, the BEST had already given out the new duty schedules for conductors and drivers and also got approval for the same by the recognised union- BEST Workers Union, now headed by Shashank Rao.

According to the rules, if any new changes are to be made, the unions’ consent will have to be taken. Deputy general manager R.R. Deshpande said that the undertaking would approach the union and see if any thing could be done in the next 48 hours. “We have to approach the union and until it gives us its okay will won’t be able to change anything. If it doesn’t give its approval, we will try to make changes in the schedule and keep a few of the 52 routes still running,” he said.

When asked, union leader Shashank Rao said that it was not approached by the management yet. “I cannot tell you for sure if we will accept the offer, as we have yet to receive a letter from the officials. We will have to see its content and take a final call,” he said.