Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking, which is stated to add one thousand more buses to its fleet by the end of April, is having a crisis of parking space.
The transport undertaking presently has 3,334 buses on its fleet, out of which, 2,900 more buses are in use. It has 29 depots in the city, including three depots that were decommissioned.
The remaining depots have a capacity to accommodate 3,900 buses in all. Moreover, these depots are also open for private vehicles and buses.
"Most depots are facing a space crunch. In Andheri, there is not adequate space to accommodate the buses. After new buses on the wet lease arrived, we often have to park the buses on the road," said a BEST official on the condition of anonymity.
Sahar road, on the eastern side of Andheri station, witnesses regular traffic congestion. BEST buses are being parked on the road, eating up most of its space.
A senior traffic police official said that the Mumbai Police has informed both the Regional Traffic Office and BEST high command, but no action has been initiated yet.
Also, many workers have complained that the problem of parking has increased after the BEST initiated the drive of giving away parking space in the depot to private vehicles for fund generation.
"The Oshiwara depot has a capacity to park 120 buses. We have 110 buses in the depot presently. And, on a regular basis, at least 100 private cars are being parked at the depot. We have to park the buses outside to avail space for parking private vehicles," says another BEST depot worker.
"Operating the buses becomes risky, as there is not enough space in the depot and stations," he added.
BEST, by 2020, has planned to increase its fleet to 6,000 buses. As many as 400 mini and midi buses have been roped in on a wet lease in the last few months, which are being operated at various point-to-point routes across the city.
More than 300 buses are expected to be added by the end of March.
Meanwhile, committee members of the transport undertaking have already raised grievances against the issue.
"BEST has a parking capacity of only 3,900 buses. There is not adequate parking space for the remaining buses that are to be inducted into service, " said BEST committee member and Congress corporator Bhushan Patil.
"Parking capacity needs to be looked into before roping in more buses, as the 27 depots of the city are full," he added.
Meanwhile, the BEST workers union has challenged the transport undertaking of not allowing bus operation if a single driver or conductor is laid off from his service.
"The management is planning to privatise the service. By bringing in private buses on wet lease, they are trying to lay off drivers, as the private buses have their own operators," said JM Kahar, general secretary of BEST workers union.
