Around 30 lakh people use the BEST buses daily.
There was no sight of Mumbai's red-hued buses operated by BEST on Monday morning. The entire fleet of 3700 buses were off the roads and have been parked inside bus depots since last night. More than 24,000 drivers, conductors and depot staff remained absent despite the administration's threat of enforcing the Maharashtra Essential Services and Maintenance Act (MESMA). This is an internal notification that states that electricity and transport are essential services, so employees will render themselves liable for stern disciplinary action.
There are 30 lakh daily bus commuters in the city who have been affected by this. Local trains seemed the obvious choice for many as they were more crowded than usual. Despite it being Raksha Bandhan, several offices are open, while later in the day many people would be visiting relatives for celebrating the occasion.
In the morning hours, people were seen walking past bus stops, many were trying to hail cabs or auto rickshaws which were also running full and were over-charging passengers. Ola and Uber rides were also expensive due to surge pricing.
"None of the buses are on the road, they were not refueled the previous night and are now parked in the bus depots," said a BEST official.
The BEST Workers Union, BEST Kamgar Sena and other unions across political party lines have decided to go on strike along with 36000 employees.
They have demanded that BMC which is the parent organisation of BEST, gives them a written assurance that salaries would be paid by 10th of each month, as well as other demands.
"We will be having another round of meetings with the unions to resolve the matter," said Anil Kokil, Chairman, BEST Committee. In the last two days, several meetings took place, but matters couldn't be resolved.
The state Transport department had asked private bus owners to operate their buses for ferrying people, apart from school buses and those used by companies for their employees.
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