The last two months has not been good for the Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking.
First, the undertaking junked the wet-lease agreement with one player due to the buses being in bad condition and lying unused at the depots. As per the report in the Times of India, no details of the contractor were mentioned and it was a very ambiguous article. However, thanks to a few friends in the bus fanning community, it came to light that these buses were operated by MP Enterprises and Associates (MPG) out of the Wadala Depot. In early 2020, these buses operated on routes in Wadala and Andheri (East). Around 280 buses were taken of the roads.
As if this wasn’t enough to add to the city’s woes, BEST also withdrew 400 of the CNG-powered Tata buses. I had reviewed the midi-buses operated out of the Mumbai Central depot too in 2020. These buses were operated by Mateshwari Urban Transport (MUP). The reason behind it was the buses catching fire. The first was on 23 January between Santacruz and Bandra, followed by another on 11 February at Chakala and yet another on 22 February, the last one near Agarkar Chowk.
Over the last month, BEST has ben slowly reintroducing these buses after thorough safety inspections with 10-10 buses from each of the depots – Majas, Dharavi, Santacruz and Pratiksha Nagar and it was reported on 14 March that 369 of the 400 buses were back on the roads.
In order to make up for the lack of buses, BEST pushed in a few off-links into service.
Below are some snaps of various Offlinks on different routes across the city, clicked by Sahil Pusalkar.
Below are the following: The first is bus 5410 of the Dindoshi Depot operating on route C-12. Next is 5219 of the Dindoshi Depot as well, also on C-12. Then there is 5188 of the Magathane Depot, this one too on C-12. Then there is 5278 of Dindoshi on 525 and 5225 of Dindoshi on 415.
The next lot is 1741 of the Mulund depot on 492, followed by 5414 of Dindoshi on 415. Then there is 566 of the Kurla depot on 308, followed by 1919 from Majas on 340. Then there is 5108 from Ghatkopar, also 340.
In the third lot, there is 4554 of the Central depot on C-1, followed by 1455 of the Goregaon depot on 28. There is 5531 from Wadala on 201, 1893 from Bandra 255 and 6599 from Worli on 169.
The next set of buses consist of 5157 of Dindoshi on 348, 6625 of Bandra on 255, 6664 of Worli on 172, 6615, also of Worli, again on 172 and 6625 of Bandra again on 348 this time.
The last set of buses are 5295 of Dindoshi on 348, 6552 of Central on C-14, 1927 of Dharavi, 5519 of Ghatkopar and 1512 of Kurla, all on 27.
That’s all for the time being, do follow Sahil on Instagram here: @sahilpusalkar.
Featured Image: Buses at Agarkar Chowk (Srikanth Ramakrishnan)
