The large red bus, which has saved Mumbai’s transit on many times and is considered the “four-wheeled hero” of the city’s commute, particularly during the rainy season, is in need of some rescue. The Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh, located across from the BMC building (CST) at Azad Maidan, will host a public hearing and meeting on the BEST on April 26 from 3 to 6 p.m. Aamchi Mumbai, Aamchi BEST (AMAB), a citizens’ forum advocating for a publicly owned, reasonably priced, accessible and decent bus transport in the city.

The deficiencies

There is a “worsening crisis in the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST),” according to the AMAB’s invitation, which has been making the rounds on social media. In order to address Mumbai’s growing deficits, the BEST administration and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) proclaimed the city’s public service to be ineffective and losing money in 2017.” However, according to the AMAB, this policy has “worsened the situation” because, in addition to BEST’s deficits, which are still growing, the bus service is dealing with all the issues that private operations have let loose on citizens and commuters, including noncompliant contractors, bus breakdowns, unhappy employees, irritated commuters, and subpar and inadequate services.

The public hearing is to bring together individual commuters and organisations from all sections of the city, chronicle their experiences with public transport, identify the underlying reasons for the current problem, and come up with sustainable and pro-people solutions, the AMAB said.

The consciousness

“You must realise that not everything is automatic or instantaneous,” said Vidyadhar Date, convenor of AMAB. The purpose of the public gathering is to raise awareness of the need to rescue the large red bus. Without these buses, commuters’ lives would be dreadful. We must discover our voices and have a forum to communicate our opinions.

“Travelling via Metro means one will have to switch different lines to the destination,” Date stressed when questioned about the Metro, which is and will bring a new dimension to Mumbai’s transport system. Therefore, the vehicle that has the most connection is the BEST bus. According to Date, “the public transport system will be systematically killed and motorised options encouraged” as the number of buses and other modes of transportation decline.

In response to a particular query on the BEST’s financial issues, Date said, “The state government must assume full responsibility for the service.” Since the Metro has received a sizable donation, why not give the BEST money as well? Favouring one kind of transportation over another is unfair.

The crunch

Regarding the bus service’s financial difficulties, AMAB co-convenor Hussain Indorewala said, “It is crucial to keep in mind that the BEST financial crisis is a product of the authorities, BEST management, and the BMC.” If the BMC decides to fund BEST and run it as part of its budget—something it is legally required to do anyhow—the financial situation would end. However, it seems that the objective is to create a crisis and use it as a pretext to transfer operations to contractors, evict passengers from buses and onto metros, and transfer BEST land to builders.

Our requirements

“We should all demand that BEST be restored as a fully publicly operated service (no private or contractor-operated buses), that there be at least 6000 buses, that bus lanes be provided on major routes and used primarily for buses, that the BMC operate BEST as part of its budget, and that the plans to sell depots to builders (euphemistically called’monetization’) be immediately withdrawn,” Indorewala continued. “We will be preparing a report of people’s testimonies as well as comments of the panellists at the meet and submit a report to the authorities,” Indorewalla said while discussing the “jan sunwai.”

“Jan Sunwai”
Where: Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh, CSMT, across from the BMC building
On: April 26, Saturday, from 3 to 6 p.m.
Admission is free; no registration is required.