Mumbai: Strike by section of BEST bus drivers over salary dues continues for second consecutive day

The drivers of wet-lease bus operators continued their strike for the second consecutive day in a row, affecting peak hour services.

Around 500 from Bandra, Kurla, Colaba, Vikhroli and Wadala depots continued the strike and did not operate the buses.

The drivers are complaining about the non-disbursement of salaries by the wet-lease operator.

BEST undertaking provides bus services in Mumbai and it is the second biggest mode of public transport in the city after the suburban local trains. Presently, it ferries over 30 lakh commuters with its fleet of around 3,500 buses, including those hired from different private contractors.

On Thursday morning, too, a section of employees of the BEST's private contractor had refused to operate buses over the same issue. However, they had called off their agitation after the officials held talks with them.

On Friday, a number of passengers faced inconvenience due to the sudden strike. Those inconvenienced included patients visiting KEM and TATA hospitals, who take mini buses after getting down from suburban trains at Parel and Dadar stations.

The BEST PRO said they will take action against the contractor as per the terms and conditions of the contract.

"In order to reduce the inconvenience faced by people, BEST diverted buses from other depots and also operated 86 own buses from other depots," BEST PRO said.

On April 20, the BEST launched the tap-in, tap-out system on the Churchgate-Gateway of India route. These will be extended on most of the wet-lease buses in the initial stages and in the next three months, card readers will be installed in 1000 buses.

Published on: Friday, April 22, 2022, 10:51 AM IST