Mumbai, Aug 2 (PTI) Bus services of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking were affected on many routes here on Wednesday as contractual employees of a private bus operator hired by the public transport body went on a flash strike, officials said.
A BEST spokesperson said employees of the private bus operator SMT, also known as the Daga Group, stopped work at the Ghatkopar and Mulund depots of BEST in the eastern suburbs over their demand for a salary hike, affecting services on several bus routes.
The BEST undertaking, which provides public bus services in the metropolis, has hired buses from a few contractors including the Daga Group on a wet lease model, under which private operators own the vehicles, besides holding the responsibility of maintenance, fuel and salaries of drivers.
Some BEST employees claimed that several routes where services were operated with the Daga Group’s buses were severely hit.
Till 4 pm, the BEST operated only 106 trips on various routes from its Ghatkopar depot instead of the scheduled 531 trips and only 257 trips in place of 726 scheduled trips from Mulund depot as a result of the flash strike, officials said.
Only 15 out of the 96 scheduled wet leased buses “turned out” of Ghatkopar depot, and 12 of the 91 such vehicles from Mulund depot till 4 pm, they added.
The BEST Undertaking daily transports more than 30 lakh commuters on its buses in Mumbai and neighbouring Thane, Navi Mumbai, and Mira-Bhayander cities with its fleet of nearly 3,100 buses. Out of these, the public transport body owns 1,340 buses.
The Daga Group could not be reached for comments on the matter.
Due to the flash strike, at least 160 buses remained in depots till the afternoon, a BEST spokesperson said.
He said BEST arranged buses from other depots and operated them on Ghatkopar and Mulund routes to avoid inconvenience to passengers.
According to BEST officials, the undertaking ensured that buses plied on all the routes and the frequency of buses on routes increased a bit.
Several employees of the private bus operator gathered at Azad Maidan in south Mumbai to support the agitation for a salary hike and other demands.
The drivers claimed they haven’t got adequate salary raise in the last three years and find it difficult to manage expenses. They claimed their salaries are quite low compared to the monthly earnings of employees of the BEST Undertaking.
Raghunath Khajurkar, who has been agitating at Azad Maidan with his wife since July 31, told PTI that employees of the private bus operator are not entitled to travel free on BEST buses and hence they have also demanded a free ride.
According to BEST sources, 584 buses were hired on wet lease from Daga Group and buses are being operated from seven different depots in Mumbai. PTI KK GK NSK NP
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