‘Buses have increased,our staffers haven’t’
The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport Undertaking supplements the suburban railway.
The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport Undertaking (BEST) supplements the suburban railway. But like the suburban railway,BEST has not been able to make full use of the benefits of projects such as the Mumbai Urban Transport Project (MUTP) and Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM). Its general manager Om Prakash Gupta spoke to Newsline on why BEST is ailing despite measures to make it more commuter-friendly.
Despite increasing BEST fleet,people are not happy with the services. There is no punctuality and frequent breakdowns are adding to the woes. When will this end?
Firstly,BEST can’t be fully blamed for punctuality. If the bus leaves the depot as per the schedule and gets stuck in traffic,there is little that can be done. The situation in the city is such that a bus passing through Peddar Road can take five minutes on one day and 25 minutes the next day. Secondly,there are breakdowns,but they have reduced to an extent and we have recruited more technical staff to take care of this. Till last year,120 buses broke down daily. That has come down to 95. One has to understand that the buses have increased,but the number of staff has remained the same. I don’t have a quick-fix solution to solve the problem. The work is on and it will take a year to bring it back to its old standard.
Complaints about BEST conductors and drivers aren’t new and traffic offences by drivers continue to rise. This despite BEST claiming to have taken various steps to curb these.
To my knowledge and the daily feedback I get from my helpline,the complaints received regarding the drivers and conductors are on the decline. Most of the traffic offences are committed by daily wage workers. We understand the reason behind this and are trying to fix the problem. We have already started the process of taking these people on BEST payroll. We hope this will solve their problems and help in better functioning of BEST. I see this indiscipline in society at large and that includes the drivers as well. They will take time,but will be slowly assimilated in the BEST culture.
The committee members often complain about the parking for BEST buses. This problem started after the BEST bought 1,000 more buses under the JNNURM scheme. Did the BEST make a mistake in buying them?
Mistakes were made in planning when the buses were procured. We should have planned and considered aspects such as adding parking space and manpower. Had that been the case,the situation would have been different. But at that time funds were available to buy these buses,so they were procured.
The corridor bus service,which was your initiative,is not gaining popularity. The service was meant to act like a local train service which would be faster than other services. Where is it going wrong?
I agree that it is not giving the expected results. In the corridor service speed was a factor. But we realised that the corridor bus takes more or less the same time to reach the destination as regular buses. Secondly,people’s habit has to be changed. Many people are still not used to these services and some are not aware of it. We are hoping that with the new flyovers being commissioned,the service can help take commuters to their destinations faster and make it popular. There were issues pertaining to the fare (which is more than in regular buses). So,we have also taken corrective steps and made changes in the fare.
BEST has sought relaxation of a few taxes from the state government,especially the passenger tax? Will the fare be brought down?
The fare cannot be brought down. Our minimum fare is Rs 6,while other transport units have Rs 5 as the minimum fare. We have the cheapest fare structure in the country. The money saved from waiving off the taxes will help us have a better balance sheet. We have a deficit of Rs 440 crore. We are already running in losses and if we reduce the fare,it will be difficult to sustain ourselves.
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