BEST Strike Enters Day 3: Mumbai Commuters Continue To Suffer, Special Bus Arrangements Made For NEET Students

Mumbai: Mumbai continued to face severe commuting disruptions on Sunday as the indefinite strike by employees of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking entered its third consecutive day, affecting lakhs of passengers across the city.

The strike, which began on Friday, has brought Mumbai’s civic-run bus services almost to a standstill, causing major inconvenience to daily commuters dependent on BEST buses for travel across the city and suburbs.

BEST, which normally ferries nearly 25 lakh passengers every day, witnessed an almost complete shutdown of operations. On Friday, only 48 buses from the undertaking’s total fleet of 2,766 remained operational, severely impacting office-goers, students, senior citizens and patients.

Special Arrangements Made For NEET Students

With the NEET re-examination scheduled across 63 centres in Mumbai on Sunday, the BEST administration said special arrangements had been made to avoid inconvenience to students appearing for the examination.

According to BEST officials, 60 additional Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) buses were arranged to transport students between 9 am and 1 pm and again from 5 pm to 7 pm. The undertaking has also requested 100 MSRTC buses to strengthen regular transport services during the ongoing strike.

“Considering the situation that has arisen, the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation was asked to arrange 100 buses so that passengers face no inconvenience. Additionally, to prevent inconvenience to students at the 63 examination centres of the NEET exam across Mumbai, 60 additional MSRTC buses have been arranged and orders to this effect have been given to depot managers,” a senior BEST official said, as quoted by Hindustan Times.

Meanwhile, the BEST administration has initiated legal measures against employees participating in the agitation. Officials said notices under the Maharashtra Essential Services Maintenance Act (MESMA) were served to striking employees and wet-lease contractors. Under MESMA, legal action can be taken against those disrupting essential public services.

However, unions have refused to withdraw the strike and accused the administration of failing to honour assurances allegedly made during discussions with Maharashtra Transport Minister Pratap Sarnaik.

“The strike continues. The minister had promised us to address our issues but it is not there in the minutes of the meeting at all. Even we understand that there are children whose future is at stake, but here the lives of BEST employees and their families are at stake. We appeal the students to take other modes of transport,” said Uday Ambonkar, president of the BEST Joint Workers’ Action Committee, according to the report.

The protesting employees are demanding the merger of BEST’s budget with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), implementation of Seventh Pay Commission benefits from 2016 to 2026, payment of pending legal dues to retired employees, abolition of contractual recruitment and absorption of wet-lease bus workers into the regular BEST workforce.

Despite repeated discussions, no breakthrough has been achieved so far, leaving Mumbai commuters uncertain about when normal BEST services will resume.

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