In his bid to revamp the image of the Birhanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking and promote Mumbai as an “always awake” city, state minister Aaditya Thackeray had in 2017 proposed to allow more establishments to remain open. Back then, I had written a post asking when more public transport would be made available at night. You can read it here: More Nightlife In Mumbai Is Great But Can We Also Focus On Improved Public Transport?
Now, nearly four and a half years later, BEST has announced that it will operate a few buses between midnight and 5am in the morning starting from 7 March 2022. BEST has shared a list of bus routes along with a map.
Buses will have standard fare and can be flagged by showing your hand.
As per the press note released by BEST, the bus routes that will operate at night are:
- 1 from Electric House to Mahim Bus Station
- 66Ltd from Electric House to Rani Lakshmibai Chowk
- 202Ltd from Mahim Bus Station to Poisar Depot
- 302 from Rani Lakshmibai Chowk to Maharana Pratap Chowk (Mulund)
- 305 from Backbay Depot to Rani Lakshmibai Chowk
- 440Ltd from Mahim Bus Station to Borivili Station (West) via the Domestic and International Terminal (T1 and T2) of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport
BEST also shared a map of the six routes in question.
While this is undoubtedly a good move, there are a few questions.
The first is why so late? Aaditya Thackeray first announced plans for allowing establishments at night in 2017 itself. Back then, he said that this was planned from 2013. It took nine years for anything to happen on the ground? BEST, as a municipal entity has been under the MCGM/BMC for a long time and the municipal corporation in turn has been ruled by Thackeray’s Shiv Sena for over 25 years.
The second is, why the disproportionate bias towards South Bombay (SoBo) over the suburbs? BEST in the last two years have been favouring SoBo whether it is the AC buses or electric buses.
The third question is, why only buses? Why not the Metro or Monorail which are bound to serve people faster and better? Of course, talking about the metro and the current government in the same sentence is a joke.
The timing of this is pretty obvious however. Elections to the corporation are due in a month or so and the Sena is desperate to win. Its former partner, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), led by former Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has made major inroads in Mumbai and defeated the Sena in several wards in a neck-to-neck battle in the 2017 municipal election where they were just two seats behind the Sena.
Featured Image: A BEST bus parked at night at Mulund. (Image: Gandharva Purohit)
If you are stepping out, make sure you wear a mask, follow COVID-appropriate behavior and keep your hands sanitised at all times. Maharashtra is still the top state by total cases and deaths.
