Strike lesson: Govt wants rlys to have plan in place

The transport department had provided extra buses and realigned long-distance routes,but still struggled to accommodate commuters.

“The fact remains that the railways did not have contingency plans. We put all BEST and State Transport buses on the road,but there are other issues of traffic in Mumbai. Buses and taxis simply cannot match the railway network,though we tried our best. We have now called for a meeting with Railway Board officials after May 20 to make some sort of contingency plan,” said Transport Minister Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil.

The transport department along with BEST ran close to 1,500 additional services last Monday. Most of these were from the major points where train services begin,such as CST and Churchgate,but commuters at other busy stations like Dadar,Bandra,Lower Parel were left in the lurch.

“We need to draw up a plan of places (where services are needed) and services which are needed on a priority in such situations. Routes need to be identified for buses to ply so that there are no traffic jams. After all,there is a limit to how much traffic the roads in Mumbai can take,” Vikhe-Patil said.

The government has also approved the long-pending proposal for a helpline for transport services where citizens can call in case of such a crisis and get advice. “The government has now accepted the proposal for the helpline,which will start soon,” Vikhe-Patil said.