Thane civic transport workers call strike

Days after the state transport department cleared the proposal of Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport8217;s BEST entry in Thane on the Mulund-Borivali route via Ghodbunder Road...

Days after the state transport department cleared the proposal of Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport8217;s BEST entry in Thane on the Mulund-Borivali route via Ghodbunder Road, the Sharad Rao led Thane Municipal Transport TMT workers8217; union went on a day8217;s strike protesting the move. Rao led auto rickshaw union also joined the strike in protest.

This is the second time that the Rao led union has brought the Thane city to a stand still. A year ago, both the auto rickshaw union and the TMT workers8217; union went on a strike thereby paralysing the city.

8220;This is a ploy to ruin the TMT and its workers. Shiv Sena and Vasant Davkhare want to take political mileage from the move,8221; said Ravi Rao who heads the union in Thane-both in TMT and among auto rickshaw drivers.

Due to the strike, problems were faced commuters on the Ghodbunder Road, Kalwa and areas like Vartak Nagar and Wagle. 8220;Not all unions had participated in the strike. But it did affect the commuters to an extent,8221; said deputy RTO Anand Patil.

Though the Nationalist Congress Party and the Shiv Sena led auto rickshaw unions and the TMT workers affiliated to these unions did not join the strike, however almost half of autos were absent from the roads and most of the TMT employees participated in the strike.

There are four major auto unions in Thane city of which Rao enjoys considerable support among both the TMT workers and the auto rickshaw drivers. There are 288 buses in TMT8217;s fleet of which only 188 can be used. The Thane commuters have been demanding BEST8217;s entry in the city for a long time.

However, the move was opposed by the TMT workers and the Shiv Sena which controls the TMT committee.

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8220;In the morning, around 100 buses were off the roads. Our fleet is not inadequate to fulfill the demand of the buses. So the BEST buses will supplement the fleet and routes,8221; said Thane Municipal Corporation commissioner Nandkumar Jantre.