More than 1,300 buses were off the road on Friday (4th August) as the strike by the drivers of the BEST buses, Mumbai's civic transportation, entered its third day. This caused major difficulty for commuters who depend on the service.
According to a spokesperson for the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST), 1,375 of the 1,671 private buses that are part of the civic transportation system have been stuck at 20 depots since the morning, including Colaba, Worli, Majas, Shivaji Nagar, Ghatkopar, Deonar, Mulund, Santacruz, Oshiwara, and Magathane.
"The strike by drivers of private bus operators for the salary hike and other demands intensified on the third day. The majority of drivers of the BEST's four big private bus operators - Mateshwari, SMT, Hansa, and Tata Motors have joined the strike on Thursday," a BEST official said.
Services on various bus lines were disrupted on Wednesday when drivers of the private bus operator SMT, commonly known as the Daga Group, went on a flash strike at the BEST depots in the eastern suburbs of Ghatkopar and Mulund.
Only 160 of the leased buses were not in service on the first day of the strike, but on Wednesday which was the second day, that number exceeded 1,000. The BEST's wet-leased bus operations were significantly restricted at the depots in Ghatkopar, Mulund, Shivaji Nagar, Worli, and other locations, according to the officials.
The private operators have been instructed by the undertaking to find a quick solution, and they claimed that the required legal action was being taken against these businesses under the terms and circumstances of the leasing agreements.
The drivers who are protesting claim that they haven't received a sufficient pay raise in the last three years and that it's hard for them to keep up with household expenditures. In comparison to BEST employees, their pay is comparatively low, they continued. The BEST has contracted for buses using a wet lease model, which means that private operators are in charge of paying for the buses' ownership, maintenance, fuel, and driver expenses.
Every day, more than 30 lakh people are transported by the undertaking's service of about 3,100 buses (including 1,340 of its own buses) in Mumbai and the nearby cities of Thane, Navi Mumbai, and Mira-Bhayandar.
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