The withdrawal of 400 buses by the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking on Wednesday had a cascading effect, affecting numerous routes, despite the undertaking claiming to have deployed 297 buses on affected routes.
Even as trade unions advocated for the abolition of wet-leasing buses and urged BEST to purchase their own, a team of Tata Motors experts arrived in the city to inspect the buses.
CNG buses will be returned after written assurance of safety is received from the manufacturer
As per reports from Mid Day, the BEST undertaking stated on Thursday that approximately 400 CNG-powered buses that were taken off the road will be returned to service only after a written assurance of safety is received from the manufacturer, TATA Motors.
BEST workers’ union leader Shashank Sharad Rao told Mid Day that the undertaking must scrap the wet lease system and revert back to purchasing its own buses.
After the third incident of a CNG bus catching fire was reported within a month, the BEST decided to withdraw 400 wet lease buses from Mumbai roads.
Officials said that the move will cause inconvenience to passengers however they can’t take any risk with regard to safety.
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