Failed BEST bus strike disrupts MSRTC services ferrying migrants

State transport buses were called in last week to keep essential services going

The BEST’s failed strike last week partly disrupted bus operations of Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) in Mumbai as a large number of buses were brought to the city to keep the essential services going. More than 1,000 buses were stranded in MSRTC bus depots in the city which were brought as an alternative to BEST buses during the strike. These buses from other depots in neighbouring districts finally left on Sunday.

But all this while, it had caused trouble to drivers and conductors who were staying in the city. There were a few who had to sleep under or on the rooftop of the buses, parked inside the depot. As the number of buses had increased at these depots, more staff had to share washrooms and lodging facilities at the depots at Kurla, Parel, Mumbai Central and Borivali.

“We used to sleep on the rooftop of the bus at night. There was no problem of food. Our batch finally left for our home depot today (Sunday),” said a driver on condition of anonymity. These drivers and conductors mainly came from neighbouring districts of Raigad, Thane and Palghar after BEST bus strike was called last week. Through the week, according to officials from MSRTC, many of these buses took migrants from Mumbai up to the state’s borders or even beyond.

“These buses were utilised to ferry migrants who were stranded in the city. Now, all these buses have returned to their respective depots,” said Shekhar Channe, managing director, MSRTC.

In fact from May 22, the MSRTC also began running their fleet in non-red and containment zones throughout the state. For this, part of their 17,000-strong fleet has been put into use. In the last three days, nearly 20,000 migrants from Maharashtra and other states have used these buses. Since the start of this month, more than 3 lakh migrants have been ferried in MSRTC buses.