Did You Know The Mulund Depot Had A Helipad?

I’ve mentioned before that Google Earth is fun. In fact, I’ve written an entire blogpost based on what I can see on the map, and I’ve even written a full fledged article based on similar observations. Defence experts too use Google Earth, along with other mapping software, for instance on the recent Galwan encounter and the bridge built across the river.

Now, one of my favourite features of Google Earth is the Timeline View. It lets you see a certain part of the map over a period of time. Most parts of Mumbai can see be seen from the year 2000, while other cities came in slightly later. Many cities in the United States can be seen from the 1970s as well.

Now, coming to the Mulund Depot. The Mulund Depot, located at Devidayal Road, just off Lal Bahadur Shastri Marg is the last depot in the central and eastern suburbs. It is also the easternmost depot among all of BEST’s depots.

Note: The northernmost depot is Gorai Depot, the westernmost depot is Malvani Depot and the southernmost depot is the Backbay Depot.

The Mulund Depot was among the first to get A/C buses along with Oshiwara and Dharavi. It was home to the red Ashok Lelyland Viking AC buses and later on the Purple (Faeries) Cerita fleet as well. You can take a look at both these buses from the Mulund Depot here: The curious case of BEST and its AC buses. Interestingly, Mulund depot hasn’t received any of the new AC buses, be it the Force Motors mini-bus, the Tata Marcopolo CNG midi-bus, the Tata Starbus Hybrid bus or the Olectra electric bus.

If go to the Mulund Depot 20 years ago, we see something very interesting. It had a helipad!

Mulund Depot 20 October 2000

On this snapshot taken on 20 October 2000, you can see a circle marked with an H on it.

This helipad is also visible in a snapshot taken on 3 December 2000.

Mulund Depot 3 December 2000

As you can see, the helipad’s location hasn’t changed, and it intersects with the parking area. Basically it couldn’t be used at night when all the buses returned to the depot.

Now, interestingly, when the next snapshot was taken, on 2 February 2003, the helipad had disappeared. As you can see in the image below, there is no trace of it visible.

Mulund Depot 2 February 2003

Rather strange, isn’t it? If you continue looking at the timeline, you’ll notice that the helipad never does return. What does make numerous appearances, especially post 2009 is the famed Cerita fleet.

For instance, here is a snapshot from 8 February 2011. You can see them Purple Faeries in abundance inside the depot.

Mulund Depot 8 February 2011

Interestingly, according to this 2010 Mumbai Mirror report titled Waiting for next bus? It could be a chopper, BEST had apparently decided to sign an agreement with a private agency called Global Flying Club to set up permanent helipads across several bus depots, Colaba, Worli, Dindoshi, Oshiwara, Dharavi, Kurla and Imax Wadala (presumably Anik or Pratiksha Nagar Depot since Wadala Depot is in the West). While Worli and Colaba depots are very close to defence areas (INS Trata and INS Shikra/INS Kunjal), Kurla would have been interesting ever since it was rebuilt by Kanakia as a multi-storeyed structure. Mulund is not mentioned anywhere in the list, although Backbay is.

An online search for Global Flying Club and Mumbai yielded no results except for an article on The Times of India that spoke about the same thing as the Mumbai Mirror report.

I bet none of you knew about the ‘Best-copter’.

Anyway, that is all from me for the time being. If you’re bored, do go thru the last three months of the blog. There are several satire articles, a few news reports, and plenty of aerial photographs of bus depots in Mumbai.

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Featured image: Mulund Depot on 12 September 2011 by Vishal890.

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And Now, It’s Time To Look At Some Midi-Buses At Mumbai Central Depot

Over the last one month, I have managed to find some incredibly drool-worthy aerial pictures of Mumbai’s new mini-bus fleet from across the city. We’ve seen them at the Colaba Depot, we’ve seen them at the Oshiwara Depot. We’ve also seen a picture of Gurgaon’s buses and metro trains parked at the depot in the northern city. While I have been looking around for similar pictures of other cities to share, notably Pune, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai, I stumbled upon a pair of glorious pair of pictures of the Mumbai Central Depot along with its fleet of Tata Marcopolo CNG midi-buses!

Both these pictures were clicked by Aayush Bhagat who goes by the username mr_clickographer_ on Instagram using a DJI Mavic Pro drone. They also had similar captions, asking the viewer to count the number of buses. This is a very difficult question to answer because most of us bus fans just stare at the picture, totally mesmerized by it.

Anyway, without much ado, let me share with you, the pictures.

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Count the number of bus. – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – #mr_dronewala – shot on-DJI MAVIC PRO #dji #djimavicpro #djiglobal #djiofficial #drone #maibhisadakchap #meinbhiphotographer #nustaharamkhor #iamkanda #mymumbai #itz_mumbai #mumbai_uncensored #photographers_of_india #streetphotographyindia #MumbaiUntold #myhallaphoto #travelrealindia #indianvisuals #streetphotographyindia #_soimumbai #mumbaibizarre #archivesofmumbai #_vop #_ip #phi #world_photography_page #full_photography #streetofmaharashtra #Photokatamasha – @djiglobal @djiofficial @officialphotographyhub @tripotocommunity @mumbaibizarre @itz_mumbai @kanda.le.lo @haram_khor_ @things2doinmumbai @halla_photo_contests

A post shared by Aayush Bhagat 😉 (@_mr_clickographer_) on

In this picture you can see a fantastic view of the entire Mumbai Central Depot with its regular, full-sized, non-airconditioned buses as well as the red-coloured midi-buses. To answer the question, there are a total of 108 buses, 49 regular and 59 air-conditioned.

And now, on to the next set. This is more zoomed in but is still as gorgeous as the previous one.

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Count the No of Busses. – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – #mr_dronewala – 🔥🔥shot on-DJI MAVIC PRO🔥🔥#dji #djimavicpro #djiglobal #djiofficial 🔥🔥#maibhisadakchap #meinbhiphotographer #nustaharamkhor #iamkanda #mymumbai #itz_mumbai #mumbai_uncensored #photographers_of_india #streetphotographyindia #MumbaiUntold #myhallaphoto #travelrealindia #indianvisuals #streetphotographyindia #_soimumbai #mumbaibizarre #archivesofmumbai #_vop #_ip #phi #world_photography_page #spi #streetofmaharashtra #Photokatamasha – @djiglobal @djiofficial @officialphotographyhub @true.colours.of.india @mumbaibizarre @itz_mumbai @kanda.le.lo @haram_khor_ @things2doinmumbai @halla_photo_contests

A post shared by Aayush Bhagat 😉 (@_mr_clickographer_) on

In this shot, there are a total of 41 buses (30 regular and 11 midis) plus two cars parked at the depot. It still is beautiful and extremely drool-worthy, no?

What are your thoughts? Were you able to count the number of buses or were you too busy just staring at these beauties?

Don’t forget to follow Aayush on Instagram!

Move over the mini-buses, it’s time to drool over the midi-buses!

Featured image: Tata Marcopolo CNG buses waiting to be fueled at Mumbai Central (Rajendra Aklekar/Twitter)

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Another Breathtaking View Of Oshiwara Depot And Its Mini-Buses

Almost a month ago, I had posted an image of Oshiwara Depot along with a fabulous view of its mini-bus fleet that was clicked by singer Abhijeet Sawant.

That was not the last time we were to get a snap of the Oshiwara depot from the same photographer. Much like I posted a photograph of Colaba depot and Electric House only to post a second one a mere two days later.

Here is the picture. This was also clicked during Sunset, much like the last one, albeit a little later. A slightly wider photograph, this one includes the entire Oshiwara Depot, as well as the Goregaon Depot adjacent to it. You can also see the depot floor is wet after the rainfall from Cyclone Nisarga.

Another pic of those mini-cuties at Oshiwara.

Oh, and talking of Cyclone Nisarga, you did read our report on what it did, right?

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Featured Image: Oshiwara Depot by Vinayak Adarkar from Mapio.

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Give Me Red: Drool Over Yet Another Picture Of Colaba Depot And Its Mini-Buses

Remember that stunning image I showed you recently of the Colaba Depot and Electric House from the air?

Let me just quickly jog your memory then! Click here: Feast Your Eyes On This Photograph Of Electric House And Colaba Depot

Now, here’s another drool-worthy picture of the same, this time from a different angle by the same photgrapher, Ujwal Puri.

Titled “Give Me Red” it goes with a caption: What’s in the Frame ? “It’s the new fleet of Air Conditioned BEST buses of Mumbai to Beat the Summer Heat . BEST is Best.”

This is just the perfect description of this image.

Ready to look at the image? Here you go!

Amazing, isn’t it? Just amazing! The vibrant contrast, the warmth of the red, and marked parking slots for each bus all make it such a beautiful picture!

Do remember and follow Ujwal Puri on Instagram. His handle is @ompsyram.

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Featured image: Electric House (Amit Dhingra/Google Maps)

Take a look at the warm red, the vibrant contrast of colours and and marked parking slots.

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An Aerial Snap Of Gurugram’s Bus Depot And Metro Depot

Continuing to provide you all with amazing aerial photographs of bus depots, here is a drone photograph, but this time from a different city.

Older readers of BESTpedia might remember that in 2015, when I was undergoing an internship in Gurgaon (now called Gurugram) I had written about ways to get around the city. (Read: Getting around Gurgaon)

In the older post, I had mentioned about buses operated by the Haryana Roadways. In the five years that have elapsed since my short, yet memorable stay in the Millienium City, also erroneously referred to as Cyber City, a lot has changed. For starters, the Haryana Urban Development Authority (HUDA)– since renamed to Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) – no longer has jurisdiction over the city and handles the rest of the state while Gurgaon now comes under the aegis of the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) and Faridabad comes under the Faridabad MDA (FMDA).

Further, intra-city buses in Gurgaon are no longer handled by Haryana Roadways but by a new agency – the Gurugram Metropolitan City Bus Limited (GMCBL) that is a joint venture between the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon, GMDA and the Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Corporation Limited (HSIICL). In 2019, owing to the financial troubles that Infrastructure Leasing and Financial Services (IL&FS) was facing, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) took over Rapid Metro operations as well.

Here is what a GMCBL bus looks like.

Gurugram City Bus (Image Credits: GMCBL/Facebook)
Gurugram City Bus (Image Credits: GMCBL/Facebook)

Now, coming to the aerial view that I was talking about. Gurgaon is among the rare cities in India which has a Metro Depot adjacent to a Bus Depot.

The 11.7km-long RMRG line features two depots, a small one that is located adjacent to the Cybercity Phase 3 Station which is the first elevated metro depot in the country. This was opened along with the first phase of the line in 2013. Here is an aerial view of this from 2016.

The second depot which is much larger, meanwhile is located at the other end of the line, near the Sector 55-56 station. It is this depot that is located adjacent to GMCBL’s bus depot. And here is it’s picture. You’ll have to click on the image to view it.

Shot during the ongoing lockdown using a drone by Gunj Guglani, this was shared recently by TheMetroRailGuy (TMRG) who runs a fantabulous website documenting India’s metro rail. Do check it out here: themetrorailguy.com.

A double bonanza featuring both a bus depot and a metro depot!

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Featured Image: Gurugram City Bus (Picture Credits: GMCBL/Twitter)

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Feast Your Eyes On This Photograph Of Electric House And Colaba Depot

A few weeks ago I had posted a photograph of a fabulous view of the Oshiwara depot with Mini-Buses parked there. A day later, I shared another visual treat of BEST Midi-Buses snapped on the Sea Link, both sourced from Instagram.

Today, I’m sharing yet another fantastic image, this time of BEST’s Electric House at Colaba. Nearly a century and a half old, Electric House is the headquarters of the Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) Undertaking and is located on the Colaba Causeway. It is located next to the Parsi Colony and apart from housing the offices of BEST, also houses the Colaba Depot.

Until BEST was taken over by the Bombay Municipal Corporation in 1947, Colaba Depot remained the only facility for maintenance and repair of buses.

So, without further ado, here is the image of the Colaba Depot! The picture was clicked by Ujwal Puri and shared on Twitter by Sahil Pednekar. Do click on the picture to see the full image.

The depot and Electric House are located to the right hand side with half the depot being populated by BEST’s regular, full-length buses with the other half being populated by the mini-bus fleet. These mini-buses are owned by PNM Transport and Mobility Limited, identified by PNM on the body of the bus.

Electric House and Colaba Depot look fantastic from above, don’t they?

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Featured image: Electric House, clicked in 2005 by Nicholas Alphonso.

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Watch: Social Distancing Seems To Have Gone For A Toss In BEST Buses

With many transit agencies implementing strict rules regarding seating arrangements and limits on the number of passengers in vehicles to ensure social distancing, BEST too decided to implement it. While BEST has had it from before the lockdown, it has reiterated it now as part of the government’s Unlock 1.0 programme (Mission Begin Again).

No more than 30 passengers (25 seated and 5 standees) are permitted on a bubs with the left and right seats being occupied to ensure distancing.

However, in this video posted by Railfan Pankaj on Instagram, all that seems to have gone for a toss.

From the video, the bus appears more to have more standees than permitted. The supervising staff/depot staff were forcing more passengers to board the bus.

A similar sight was visible at Borivali near the railway station on the eastern side. Here is a picture of the mess, as posted by Yash on Twitter.

It looks like nothing has changed since the virus outbreak.

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Featured image: Distancing Vectors by Vecteezy

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After BMTC, MTC Picks Up QR Code-Based Cashless Ticketing In Chennai

Similar to the decision of the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC), the Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) of Chennai, fka Pallavan has also decided to implement a QR Code-based cashless ticketing mechanism on its buses.

The announcement was made by Tamil Nadu Minister of Transport M R Vijayabhaskar on 1 June 2020 via Twitter.

In his tweet, Vijayabhaskar has said that QR-code based cashless transactions were now permitted and that a trial run had begun using Paytm. According to a report by The Hindu, the two buses were both bound for the Secretariat at Georgetown with one originating at Thyagaraya Nagar (T Nagar) and the other at Todhunter Nagar in Saidapet.

Officials at MTC have said that once more buses hit the street, the system will be extended to them as well. Commuters can use any UPI-based payment app such as Google Pay/Tez, Paytm, PhonePe, KhaaliJeb or their bank app.

The system is very similar to the system that the BMTC has set-up, which is essentially only for cashless transactions and not cashless ticketing.

While the immediate side-effect of this would be an increase in UPI adoption across Chennai, it will still remain a time-consuming method. In the long run, the state government has to promote the National Common Mobility Card as a means to go forward.

One hopes that the MTC’s parent body, the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) starts extending this to other cities including Coimbatore, Trichy and Madurai.

For UPI platforms, this is a golden opportunity to expand their footprint. While the better known apps like BHIM, PhonePe, Google Pay (formerly Tez) and Paytm have managed to get a market of their own, smaller niche apps like KhaaliJeb can make an impact here. KhaaliJeb (literally Empty Pocket in Hindi) is a UPI-based payments app designed for students. According the developers, the app has a student loyalty that will offer them discounts from merchants while also allowing them to split expenses. Given Chennai and Coimbatore’s status as educational hubs, this is the right time for such apps to strike gold.

If all goes well, it might seem like the Pallavan Kollavan (Killer Pallavan) tag might actually refer to cash.

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Also Read: Once This Pandemic Is Over, We Should Look At How We Transact

Featured image: An MTC bus belonging to the Central Depot on Route 21G from Broadway to Tambaram Railway Station. (Photo credits: VtTN on the Wikimedia Commons).

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Mission Begin Again: Here Are BEST’s Bus Operations From 8 June 2020

With parts of the country returning to normalcy from tomorrow (8 June 2020), BEST buses too are slowly returning to normalcy. As part of the state government’s Mission Begin Again, BEST has announced that it will start ferrying office-goers and regular commuters from the eight.

As per a report by the Hindustan Times, only 30 passengers will be permitted in a bus with a maximum of five standees as against the normal capacity of 54. Of these 30, 25 will be seated passengers. A passenger will be allowed to sit on the left and the right side of the buses with the adjacent seat remaining vacant.

BEST administration has said that 2,000 buses will initially be pulled into service and based on the passenger flow, 300 buses will be added every week.

While BEST has not announced anything about is mini-bus/midi-bus fleet, these buses have been doing the rounds over the last three months, ferrying passengers across the city, mostly for essential services.

BEST has however, announced the operation of major bus routes from the suburbs to South Bombay, as well as from the city to regions beyond the MCGM limits.

Of these, five bus routes, designated as Corridor services will go beyond MCGM limits.

Corridor 1 will connect Virar to Malvani Depot via Gorai Depot and Borivali Station.

Corridor 2 will connect Nallasopara to Goregaon Depot via SV Road till Kora Kendra and then along the Western Express Highway.

Corridor 3 will connect Badlapur to Rani Laxmi Chowk (Sion) via Airoli and Shil Phata.

Corridor 4 will connect Kalyan to Rani Laxmi Chowk via Mumbra and Kharigaon.

Corridor 5 will connect Panvel to Rani Laxmi Chowk.

Here is the entire list of routes:

Mission Begin Again: Best Bus Routes from 8 June 2020
Mission Begin Again: Best Bus Routes from 8 June 2020

Stay safe folks, be careful and don’t forget to wear your masks and maintain distance.

Featured Image: Juhu Vile Parle (JVPD) Bus Station clicked by me on 29 April 2020.

A special thanks to Pranav Curumsey for helping me out with this post.

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Cyclone Nisarga What? Here Are Visuals From Mumbai’s Brand New World-Class Aquarium

In December last year when Maharashtra saw a political coup, resulting in a mix-and-match coalition government coming to power, the newly throned chief minister announced plans to build a grand, “world-class” multi-level aquarium. Just over six months later with Cyclone Nisarga having crossed the city, here are some stunning visuals of the new aquarium.

Without wasting time, the government run by the Best CM (not BEST CM) has gone ahead and quietly implemented the aquarium at King’s Circle near Matunga. Below are some pictures from news agencies Asian News International (ANI) and Free Press Journal (FPJ). You can click on the indiviudal images to see more.

As pointed out on Twitter by Karthik, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has managed to build the aquarium on the first day of rains!

While the fish are not immediately visible due to vehicles, they will slowly find their way, along with other creatures including worms, snakes, prawns and shrimp (after being washed from markets). The largest creature currently in these waters is BEST’s Aqua Faeries; as seen in the above pictures (not to be confused with the earlier Purple Faeries).

Apart from this, the government has also implemented a new waterfall system in the city, although it is linked with the sewerage system. You can catch it in action here:

Ever since the 2005 floods, political parties in Maharashtra have promised to turn the city into Singapore or Shanghai. Sadly, this year, due to the Covid-19 outbreak, Mumbai became Wuhan while Maharashtra became Hubei. However, on a regular basis, the city turns into Venice every year during the monsoons.

Mumbaikars have got their aquarium. Now, let’s wait for the metro.

Also Read: Satire: BEST To Capitalise On CM’s New-Found Fame, Will Feature His Face On All New Buses

Also Read: Satire: In Absence Of Depot, Metro 3 To Run BEST Buses In Tunnel

Note: The above article is meant to be humourous. Please don’t register a police complain or send goondas to the writer’s residence.

Or, as Karthik puts it, PS: Satire alert⚠️🚨. Not to be taken seriously unless you are a BMC official.😅😅

Featured Image: Fishtank by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay.

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