After extended rounds of delays, Bhagirathi Trans Corporation (BTC) - a private agency appointed by the Mira Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) to operate its public transport facility finally resumed bus services from August 14.
Only five out of the 70 buses were pressed into service on two out of the 17 routes originating from Bhayandar to Uttan and Chowk village.
However, almost 350 workers are now up in arms against the agency for not paying their wages for the past five months. The workers launched an agitation on Monday by squatting outside the civic chief’s office in Bhayandar to register their protest against the high-handedness of the operator who according to them had left his workforce to starve in the pandemic situation.
The workers were supported by legislator-Geeta Jain who sought the civic chief’s intervention to release the wages of the workers and action against the erring contractor. “I have been repeatedly following up with the civic administration for payments to clear the salary of workers. A meeting has been convened with officials and hopefully, the issue will be resolved.” claimed Manohar Sakpal of the BTC.
“There is no need to appoint private agents to run the bus fleet. The civic administration is capable of operating and reaping profits instead of doling out lakhs every month to such non-professional agents.” said bus driver-Deepak Jadhav.
After treating the private bus operator with kid gloves, the civic administration had decided to act tough by giving them an ultimatum to resume services in the twin-city or get prepared to face action.
The bus operator had remained adamant on getting an official confirmation from the civic body regarding the revised pricing structure due to the limited seating arrangements in accordance to physical distancing rules which were in place to contain the spread of the deadly Covid-19 pandemic.
Last year, the MBMC signed an 8-year Net Cost Contract with BTC agreeing to pay Rs 26 per km for operating a fleet of 80 buses running at an average of 200 km per bus every day.
