On Friday, the third day of the strike by the drivers of private bus companies employed by the BEST, Mumbai’s municipal transportation agency, increased with more than 1,300 buses remaining off the road, severely disrupting commuters who utilize the service.
According to a spokesperson for the Mumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST), 1,375 of the 1,671 private buses that are part of the civic transportation service have been stuck at 20 depots since the morning, including Colaba, Worli, Majas, Shivaji Nagar, Ghatkopar, Deonar, Mulund, Santacruz, Oshiwara, and Magathane.
“On the third day, the strike by drivers of private bus operators over a pay raise and other demands became more intense. A BEST spokesman said that the majority of the drivers from the BEST’s four largest private bus companies—Mateshwari, SMT, Hansa, and Tata Motors—had joined the strike on Thursday.
Services on various bus lines were disrupted on Wednesday when drivers of the private bus operator SMT, commonly known as the Daga Group, went on a flash strike at the BEST depots in the eastern suburbs’ Ghatkopar and Mulund. Only 160 of the leased buses were not in service on the first day of the strike, but on Wednesday’s second day, that number exceeded 1,000.
The BEST’s wet leased buses’ operations at the depots in Ghatkopar, Mulund, Shivaji Nagar, Worli, and other locations were significantly affected, according to the authorities. They claimed that required action was being taken against these businesses in accordance with the terms and circumstances of the leasing agreements and that the undertaking had instructed the private operators to address the problem as soon as feasible.
The drivers who are protesting allege that they haven’t received a sufficient pay raise in the previous three years and that it’s hard for them to keep up with household expenditures. In comparison to BEST workers, their pay are relatively modest, they said.
In a wet lease arrangement, where private operators are responsible for vehicle ownership, maintenance, fuel, and driver expenses, the BEST has hired buses.
Every day, more than 30 lakh passengers are transported by the undertaking’s fleet of over 3,100 buses (including 1,340 of its own buses) in Mumbai and the nearby cities of Thane, Navi Mumbai, and Mira-Bhayandar.
