Last Updated: February 24, 2023, 08:31 IST
Sunil Ganacharya, former BEST committee member, mentioned the shortage of BEST’s management over the upkeep of leased buses was the reason for such incidents (Rep picture: PTI)
In view of incidents involving TATA CNG buses operated by M/S Mateshwari Ltd, BEST has determined to take all 400 buses off roads until the OEM (unique producer) and operator take needed corrective measures
Mumbai’s civic transport physique Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) on Wednesday mentioned it was taking 400 leased buses off roads after a 3rd incident of a leased CNG bus catching hearth occurred inside one month.
The newest incident of a leased CNG bus catching hearth came about in Andheri East round 6.55 pm. No one was injured because the bus on route 415 caught hearth after the passengers had received down exterior the Andheri railway station, officers mentioned.
In view of those incidents involving TATA CNG buses operated by M/S Mateshwari Ltd, BEST has determined to take all 400 buses off roads until the OEM (unique producer) and operator take needed corrective measures to make sure that such incidents don’t occur in future, mentioned BEST basic supervisor Lokesh Chandra in an announcement.
“Though it may cause inconvenience to commuters, public safety is of utmost importance to BEST and we can not compromise on that. There may be some changes in the schedules due to this,” Chandra mentioned.
BEST gives public bus service to Mumbai metropolis and neighbouring areas. It has a fleet of round 3,500 buses together with greater than 400 single decker e-buses. Daily, greater than 30 lakh commuters journey on BEST buses.
A number of months in the past, BEST had terminated the contract of one other bus operator who had wet-leased mini buses, citing poor service.
The variety of buses out there for service may go down under 3,000 now.
On January 25, a CNG bus employed from Mateshwari caught hearth in Bandra West, whereas one other CNG bus of the identical operator caught hearth at Chakala junction in Andheri East on February 11.
In the incident on Wednesday night exterior Andheri station, the bus was fully gutted earlier than the 2 hearth engines and a jumbo tanker of the Mumbai hearth brigade doused the blaze inside 15-20 minutes after it began.
“The bus was overcrowded when it reached the spot. As soon as the passengers got down, the bus caught fire,” a BEST official mentioned.
Sunil Ganacharya, former BEST committee member, mentioned the shortage of BEST’s management over the upkeep of leased buses was the reason for such incidents.
“BEST administration and particularly the engineering department has no control over the maintenance of leased buses as they have not recruited trained staff for the last 10 years and no promotions and incentives given to the existing staff. As a result there is lethargy,” Ganacharya mentioned, including that the general public transport physique also needs to rethink its coverage on hiring non-public buses.
Ravi Raja, one other former BEST committee member, mentioned it’s a “serious issue” and demanded that BEST administration take note of passengers’ security as BEST is the “second lifeline of Mumbai” after the native practice community.
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(This story has not been edited by News18 employees and is printed from a syndicated information company feed)
