BEST buses on a strike! Over 300 minibuses stay off roads in Mumbai

The majority of Mumbai's BEST buses, taken on lease from a private contractor by Mumbai's BMC, remained off roads for the second consecutive day today. The BEST runs a total of 275 minibuses in the city, out of which, 163 did not operate on Tuesday. The strike that has put Mumbai’s daily commute in a fix, is due to a flash strike called by the contractor's staff over non-payment of salaries.

The BEST undertaking official notified that the unfortunate strike has affected the services in Bandra, Kurla, and Vikhroli depots. Only 17 buses operated from these depots till evening. Reportedly, in a bid to avoid inconvenience to commuters, BEST operated 113 extra buses.

Reportedly, the undertaking has hired private buses on wet lease. Under such a lease, apart from arranging drivers for buses, private operators also undertake the maintenance of the vehicles. Notably, the BEST provides public bus service to Mumbai, ferrying over 30 lakh commuters with its fleet of around 3,500 buses.

Notably, this is the second flash agitation by the contractor's drivers in less than a month. Back in April 22, over 275 minibuses stayed off-road owing to the flash strike of drivers over delayed salaries.