DECEMBER 16: Seventy-year-old Ulhas Joshi stands with trembling hands at the Regal bus stop every day, waiting for one of the several buses that head towards CST. But he is lucky if he can get into the first one that arrives without getting pushed, shoved and abused. ``Though senior persons are allowed to get in from the exit door, we are forced to join the crowd behind because the bus does not halt at the right spot. By the time you reach the front, the bus starts even though the conductor has seen you. This happens at the Regal bus stop even though it is so close to the BEST headquarters and in the presence of ticket checkers. Can you imagine the plight of commuters in other places?'' he asks.Joshi is not off the mark. Complaints against the BEST running staff and the number of accidents have increased considerably in the past few months. In August '99, 586 and in the next month, 560 complaints were received, a majority of which pertained to buses not halting at stops, rude behaviour by conductors, fights for loose change and rash driving. This despite the fact that a large number of people do not register their complaints. There were a total of 101 accidents in August, out of which two were fatal and 94 cases were those of injuries. Five collisions occurred that month - one serious and four minor. In September, there were five fatalities and 90 injuries. A total of 607 complaints in August (including backlog) and 569 cases in September were disposed of.Says a BEST spokesperson, ``Complaints coming in also pertain to starting more routes, direct buses and shifting of stops. But it's true most of the complaints are regarding arrogant behaviour of conductors and buses taking off without picking up passengers. People also complain of buses coming late and bunches of buses on the same route arriving at the same time.'' A large number of accidents have taken place while boarding or disembarking from buses.On September 16, S V Raju (66) boarded bus route No 125 from CST to travel to the University. The conductor rang the bell even before an elderly person could get in though there were a lot of seats vacant in the bus. At the University stop, the bus took off before Raju could alight. When he pointed this out to the conductor, he was told he missed the stop ``because he was sleeping.'' Says Raju, ``I got down at the Kala Ghoda signal and noted the number of the bus. The conductor did not even have enough tickets on him and had to go to the upper deck to get some. I wrote to the BEST giving details of the incident and asking them to teach their staff to treat the commuter as a customer and not as a nuisance. Soon I got a reply asking me to be present for an enquiry to be conducted against the erring conductor.''Raju, however, did not attend the hearing. ``I had no intention of punishing the conductor and just wanted him to behave himself. Besides, who has the time to attend an enquiry?'' A line often repeated by commuters which lets the erring staff go scot-free.On the other hand, H D Vira of Chembur is waiting for his call to attend the enquiry. Ten days ago, a half-empty bus route No 21 whizzed past without halting at the Byculla station stop. ``There were almost 12 of us waiting for the bus. I wrote to the BEST and am waiting for a response,'' he says.Complaints are registered at depots, chowkies, through letters, press cuttings and even by telephone. Once it is registered, the complainant and the erring staff member are called at the depot to which the bus belongs on a fixed date. A summary trial then takes place or a charge-sheet is filed in the presence of an officer, union representative and witnesses, if any.Hemant Desai attended an enquiry in June last year after he complained about the conductor giving him a ticket of a higher denomination and then refusing to give him back the change. Desai says the enquiry was conducted in a fair manner and the conductor suspended for a day.Says a spokesperson, ``The complainant is usually called only once and the matter is disposed of. The staff member is also kept off duty on the particular day to enable him to attend the hearing. Depending on the nature and severity of the case, the conductor or driver can be suspended, fined or reprimanded. This keeps a check on further misbehaviour.''The strict action, though, does not seem to be having its desired effect if one goes by the increasing number of complaints pouring in daily.
