Economy & Equity

To BEST: Why are we waiting for hours?

(PART 1) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=USnt4fiF6kA  Aug 8, 2021

In 2019, the BEST management had signed an MOU with worker unions which said that the number of BEST owned buses will remain at 3,327. Any wet-leased (i.e., smaller contractor-run conductor-less) buses will be in addition to this. Today, the number of BEST-owned buses is down to 1,999, and the total number of buses (including contractor-run buses) stands much higher at 3,267.

(PART 2) Aug 8, 2021 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoUSK2hrEGc   Aug 8, 2021  BEST's reduction of buses has led to enormous hardships for commuters and workers alike. Everywhere in the city, we can see long queues of commuters waiting for buses - sometimes for hours. There is simply no reason why Mumbaikars are being made to suffer in this manner for something that can be easily avoided or overcome with careful planning and management. 

(PART 3) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=my9kt8vPX48  Aug 9, 2021

The BEST-owned buses are larger, and can accommodate up to 72 passengers. The contractor driven buses that have replaced them can accommodate at the most 30 passengers. This means that not only are there fewer buses on the roads, but the number of seats in the buses are dramatically reduced. If we apply the standard of 50 buses per 100,000 people, Mumbai should have a total of 6,250 70-seater buses. (In fact, going by the norms the Supreme Court had laid down for Delhi, Mumbai would need 12,500 buses.) 

(PART 4)  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NcH9SxWuEX0 Aug 9, 2021 All through the COVID pandemic, the BEST has transported workers providing essential services, and later other daily commuters, in Mumbai. More than a hundred workers of BEST have succumbed to the disease since last year. Over the years, BEST has proved to be the most reliable public transport for people during times of crisis. However, rather than expand the city's public bus service, the BEST management and BMC have shrunk the services. The authorities have used the pandemic to further downsize the BEST in order to facilitate contractor driven (privately operated) smaller buses. 

(PART 5) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b70fil9cQFg  From young children to senior citizens, most Mumbaikars are dependent on BEST to fulfill their work, educational, health and other needs, and the denial of this mode of transport is a direct attack on our rights.  

आमची मुंबई आमची बेस्ट संवाद:

"काम पर 9 बजे / 10 बजे कि जगह पर मैं 12:30 बजे पहुँच रहा हूँ" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2aKXlYjHDI Aug 8, 2021 504 में सफर करने वाले एक और वडाला के कामगार का कहना था कि बसों की संख्या कम होने से उनकी जीविका पर सीधा असर पड रहा है । रोज वाशी से वडाला आने जाने में पाँच घंटे लगते है । कभी बैठने को जगह मिल जाती है और कभी नहीं मिलती । मैं दस बजे निकलता हूँ तो साडे बारह बजे यहाँ दुकान पर पहुंचता हूँ । और मार्केट 4 बजे को बंद होता है । तो मेरा समय और पैसा दोनों बरबाद हो रहा है 

 "वाशी की बस के लिए २ घंटे तक इंतजार करना पड़ा" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8PB665LemaE  Aug 8, 2021  खुशनम दादर पारसी कॉलोनी की निवासी है और पिछले सात सालों से वह नियमित रूप से बेस्ट में सफर करती है । उनका कहना था कि इससे पहले कभी भी बेस्ट की हालत इतनी खराब नहीं हुई थी जितनी आज है । बसों की संख्या कम हो गई है, बस स्टॉप पर छत या बैठने की जगह नहीं है, लोगों 

Webinar: Covid 19 and the Threat to BEST 8th august 2020  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n5pnuFbISVA Aug 12, 2020 

More than one hundred employees of BEST have passed away in recent months and more than a thousand have fallen ill, not least due to the appalling handling of the COVID-19 pandemic by the city and government authorities. Throughout the lockdown, BEST bus services were the ONLY form of public transport for all frontline workers. Yet, what does the future hold for the premier bus service and its employees? In recent years, the city’s bus services have been systematically shrunk, starved of investment and handed over to private contractors – in the name of making it financially viable.

In this webinar we discuss the importance of BEST for Mumbai, the impacts of the pandemic on BEST workers, and the way forward for BEST.

Speakers [click on timestamp to jump directly to each speaker]:
1) Amita Bhide [5:23] https://www.youtube.com/embed/n5pnuFbISVA?start=323&end= 1136  overll privatisation.. 
2) Meena Gopal [20:11]  https://www.youtube.com/embed/n5pnuFbISVA?start=1211s
3) Shashank Rao [31:35] https://www.youtube.com/embed/n5pnuFbISVA?start=1895s
4) Trishila Kamble [45:46] https://www.youtube.com/embed/n5pnuFbISVA?start=2746s
5) Nikhil Wagle [56:17] https://www.youtube.com/embed/n5pnuFbISVA?start=3377s
6) Dunu Roy [1:16:27] https://www.youtube.com/embed/n5pnuFbISVA?start=4587s