Turbhe: The Navi Mumbai Municipal Transport (NMMT) has increased the frequency of its buses heading to Mumbai, after the BEST bus strike continued on Wednesday. However, the extra services received a lukewarm response and did not bring much revenue to the transport undertaking's coffers.
Drivers and conductors of BEST buses went on a flash strike on Tuesday, in opposition to the new scheduling system under which they have to work longer hours.
In Mumbai on Wednesday, at a time when lakhs of commuters were left stranded at many places after BEST buses continued to be off roads, commuters in the satellite city, too, were found struggling to get vehicles heading to Mumbai. Commuters in Nerul, Belapur and Vashi had to wait for hours for vehicles to take them to Mumbai.
In Navi Mumbai, BEST runs a substantial number of buses to connect the city with Mumbai. "I used to travel to Mulund in BEST buses owing to its good frequency. But since the last two days, I have been struggling to commute there, thanks to the strike," said Archana Patil, a Nerul resident.
An NMMT authority has claimed have increased the frequency of buses going towards Mumbai. "We have introduced three to four extra buses to Mulund, Bandra and Borivli in the last two days for the convenience of commuters," said Shirish Aradwad, transport manager of NMMT. He added the extra services did not receive an encouraging response. "Considering the flash strike by BEST bus drivers and conductors, we provided extra services, but response was not encouraging as there were few commuters travelling in these extra services," said Aradwad.
Thousands of drivers and conductors of BEST buses have been opposing the new scheduling system, which came into affect on Tuesday and decided to go on a flash strike. The strike continued on Wednesday, severely affecting commuters in Mumbai. However, there has not been much impact in the satellite city. There are majority of persons who used to travel in BEST buses have switched off to suburb trains or other modes to go their respective destinations in Mumbai. "Earlier I used to travel in air-conditioned buses for Bandra. However, after the strike I am travelling in train to go to my workplace," said Dipak Chavan, a Vashi resident.
Most of the office goers complained that in absence of feeder services from stations to workplace affected them a lot.
Students using BEST buses to commute to their schools in Airoli are among the worst-affected because of the strike. "BEST runs six special services for students studying in DAV School, Airoli. Students have been struggling to make it to their schools during the strike," said a parent.
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