Tag: Post Vans

No, Oshiwara Depot Is Not Shutting Down

A recent rumour has been spreading that the Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) Undertaking is shutting down its Oshiwara Depot on 1 August 2021.

The rumour was started by a group called Aapli BEST (आपली बेस्ट आपल्याचसाठी) on Facebook. In a series of tweets, they shared the same fake news, which was soon shared by several bus fans on both Instagram and Whatsapp stories. Below is a screenshot of one such story.

Fake News spread by Aapli Best on Oshiwara Depot shutting down
Fake News spread by Aapli Best on Oshiwara Depot shutting down

The post makes allegations that according to information received from “sources”, the Oshiwara Depot will shut on 1 August 2021 and the routes from the depot will be handled by the adjacent Goregaon Depot. It then says that staff from Oshiwara too will be transferred to Goregaon and that discussions between the undertaking’s administration and staff happened over the last few days. It then goes on to say that the sudden decision left the workers at BEST in a panic and that the reason behind BEST’s decision was not certain. The post then makes the allegation that BEST employees have reported that the land was sold to the builder lobby before completely changing topic to talking about private buses. It then says BEST has already got private buses and private staffers (buses on a wet lease) before asking the undertaking if it planned on completely privatising the service. The post ended with the question asking if the alleged closure of the Oshiwara depot was not a precursor to complete privatisaion.

The entire post makes little no sense. As a former journalist, one thing I have learned over the last few years is, never rely on any report that directly says “sources”. Two, if BEST was intending on privatising itself, why would land for the Depot be sold? Wouldn’t the private player also require the depot land to maintain and operate buses?

BEST put all doubts to rest by responding to the tweets, stating that the information being spread was incorrect.

So no. Oshiwara Depot is not being shut down. BEST has clarified this.

Featured image: Goregaon and Oshiwara Depot at night by Ravi Ahlawat (Google Maps)

Thanks to Rupak Dhakate and Yash Mhadgut for their inputs.

If you intend to step out please wear a mask, carry sanitizer and maintain social distancing.

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BEST’s New AC Electric Midis Are Here

While BEST has consistently stuck to one design for their AC minibus fleet, the Force Motors Smart Citibus, their midibus fleet has a lot more variations. The first to enter the fleet were the BYD/Olectra electric buses, both in an AC and non-AC versions, attached to the Backbay and Kalakilla depots. The second was the CNG-powered Tata Marcopolo which was originally attached to the Mumbai Central Depot and later also reached the Deonar and Magathane depots.

Now, BEST has gone and got itself a new set of midibuses, this time electric once again. The bus this time is from Tata Motors, and is the Tata Marcopolo Starbus Ultra 9m Electric city bus. According to Tata Motors the bus is Bharat Stage VI compliant (although I don’t understand why emission standards would apply to an electric vehicle) and features a top speed of 75 km/hr with a range of 150 km under ideal conditions and a charging time of 2 to 2.5 hours with fast charging.

The bus also has an automated wheelchair ramp for the disabled. The last time BEST buses had such a feature was in the original Tata Starbus fleet that was inducted in 2004-2005 (which were later used on the Fort Pheri routes) although these were manually operated.

You can check out some images here. The bus, like the other midibuses, features a USB charging socket under the seat. It was flagged off by (sadly) Uddhav Thackeray and Aaditya Thackeray.

These buses are also on Wet Lease like the other ones, and owned by Tata Motors Limited (marked with TML on the front and the back). They’re currently attached to the Backbay Depot and run on at least one route: A-25 from Backbay Depot to Rani Laxmi Chowk (Sion).

That’s all from me for now. BEST’s new EVs look really cool!

For my first impressions of BEST’s earlier Midi and Mini-buses, do check out the following:

A Quick Review Of BEST’s Midi-Buses

BEST’s New AC Buses Are A Delight To Travel On

Also, if you’re interested in EVs as a career choice; Did You Know CoEP Has A PG Diploma In Metro Rail Tech And Electric Mobility?

Whether you’re travelling in an electric bus, a diesel bus or a CNG powered bus, don’t forget to take the basic precautions when you step out. Do wear a mask, and carry sanitizer with you.

           

Featured Image: BEST A-25 from Backbay Depot to Rani Laxmi Chowk (Sion) (Vishal/Twitter)

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Pictures: Buses Ferry Passengers To Quarantine From Mumbai Airport

After flights resumed in select sectors to allow people to return home, airports have been busy zones with people being transported to quarantine zones for the ongoing Wuhan Virus pandemic.

At Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, buses are lined up to ferry passengers to the hotels that are used for quarantine purposes. Here are some pictures:

BEST's mini-bus fleet waiting at T2, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport. Photo by Mahesh Sakhalkar.
BEST’s mini-bus fleet waiting at T2, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport. Photo by Mahesh Sakhalkar.

As you can see, BEST has deployed its mini-bus fleet for this purpose. These post vans have been used for myriad purposes over the last three months. They’ve been used to carry essential supplies, they’ve been used as ambulances, they have been used as shuttle services for essential workers and more.

BEST's mini-bus fleet waiting at T2, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport. Photo by Mahesh Sakhalkar.
BEST’s mini-bus fleet waiting at T2, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport. Photo by Mahesh Sakhalkar.

Here is another snap of these buses queued up at the terminal.

Now, BEST isn’t the only transco with its buses being used to ferry passengers from the airport. The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC/ST) is also using its Shivshahi fleet of AC buses to ferry passengers.

MSRTC's Shivshahi fleet waiting at T2, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport. Photo by Mahesh Sakhalkar.
MSRTC’s Shivshahi fleet waiting at T2, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport. Photo by Mahesh Sakhalkar.

The Shivneri fleet meanwhile has been used to carry goods.

Here is a picture of the Shivneri Scania fleet parked at Nancy Colony, Borivali. The regular buses are used as cargo buses, mostly to transport mangoes.

MSRTC's Scania Shivneri fleet parked at Nancy Colony. Photo by Yash Mhadgut.
MSRTC’s Scania Shivneri fleet parked at Nancy Colony. Photo by Yash Mhadgut.

An update: Regular buses are being used as Cargo buses with seats removed. The bus in the picture is a Malvan- Borivali cargo bus which mostly carried Mangoes.

Here is another picture of the Shivneri fleet:

MSRTC's Scania Shivneri fleet parked at Nancy Colony. Photo by Yash Mhadgut.
MSRTC’s Scania Shivneri fleet parked at Nancy Colony. Photo by Yash Mhadgut.

Both BEST and MSRTC are using their AC bus fleet.

That’s all from me this time. Stay tuned for some more amazing drone shots to be seen though.

In the meantime though, traffic to this blog went up by leaps and bounds over the last month. I’ve made more than 10 posts in June 2020 (higher than the 10 I made in December 2015) and one post in particular – Mission Begin Again: Here Are BEST’s Bus Operations From 8 June 2020 – saw a huge spike in visits, notably from Google Search (for obvious reasons). Of course, this resulted in increased ad revenue as well, but Google AdSense has deemed this traffic as ‘invalid’ because well, it’s their hegemony, remember? Hence, you won’t be seeing Google Ads on this site for the time being.

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Featured image: A-337 from Agarkar Chowk to CSMIA T2, parked at the airport bus stop in March 2020, when the bus was launched.

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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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Another Visual Treat, BEST Midi-Bus Snapped On Sea Link

If you, like me (and several others) are still drooling over my last post of BEST’s mini-buses parked at Oshiwara Depot, here is another visual treat for you.

After a gap of nearly three years, a BEST bus was snapped on the Bandra Worli Sea Link!

Clicked by user Instasnapper, this bus is a Tata Marcopolo CNG midi-bus belonging to the Mumbai Central (CN) depot that is owned and operated by SMT ATPL Associates (marked by SAA next to the depot code).

I presume that this bus was on emergency duty, similar to the one spotted heading to Badlapur earlier this month.

The last time BEST had any buses on the Sea Link was prior to 2017. While several other routes existed, only three of them ran from 2014 till BEST’s eventual cancellation of AC services in 2017. These were A-74Express from Oshiwara Depot to NSCI Worli (Lotus), A-75 Express from Hiranandani Powai to NSCI Worli and A-76Express from Gorai Depot to NSCI Worli. All of them used the Cerita fleet (Purple Faeries struggling to climb the incline on the sea link) while A-74Express briefly used the Volvo fleet when it went from Oshiwara Depot to Colaba Depot (AS-4 always went from Oshiwara Depot to Backbay Depot but via Mahim). A non-AC bus 33Ltd with the same destinations as the regular 33 from Goregaon Bus Station to Pandit Paluskar Chowk (Opera House) was experimented with in 2010 according to the Hindustan Times report.

Well. That’s all from my side for today. Do check back on the blog for more!

Like I said in my last post, the current situation has made things difficult for many of us. Do consider supporting me on Patreon!

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Featured image: Bandra Worli Sea Link from an A-74 Express (Photographed by Srikanth Ramakrishnan on Motorola Moto G)

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A Fabulous View Of Oshiwara Depot With Mini-Buses Parked

At the start of the month, I put up a post on BEST’s new mini-bus fleet visible from Google Earth. Here’s a visual treat for you of the same at Oshiwara Depot, this time clicked from one of the high-rises in the vicinity.

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Aaj ki shaam ka rang hi kuch alag hai!

A post shared by Abhijeet Sawant (@abhijeetsawant73) on

In the above image you can see the Oshiwara depot (full of them red postvans), with the Goregaon Depot on the extreme right-hand side. In front of both depots is the majestic Goregaon Metro station on Line 2 of the Mumbai Metro.

On the left-hand side, you can see the Oshiwara River along with what looks like a bridge being built across it. Google Earth shows that the river has been widened at the location in the question between 2018 and 2020 and this construction on the river did not exist as recent as October 2019. However, going by both Google Earth and this image, it looks like a two lane road or promenade may be built over it.

This picture was clicked by singer Abhijeet Sawant. Sawant was the winner of the first season of Indian Idol in 2004-2005 (though the runner up Amit Sana was more popular). Presumably Sawant lives in the apartment behind the depot; the area is home to a lot of film stars. Incidentally Abhijeet Bhattacharya, known mononymously as Abhijeet also lives in the vicinity, and is the President of the Annual Lokhanwala Durgotsav that takes place at Lokhandwala.

While I shall trawl the interwebz for more such pictures, the rest of you lot can enjoy this splendid for the time being.

An interesting thing to note that BEST’s Volvo fleet is still housed at the Oshiwara Depot, albeit at the far end now (just outside the frame in this picture), as per the latest Google Earth update, which is from 30 January 2020. The buses seem to have gathered dust as they look visibly brown compared to the bright red from October last year.

On that note, I shall end this post, but since we are talking of Abhijeet Sawant, do listen to his song Lafzon Mein.

A closing line: The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has left many of us in a financially awkward position. I’d request you to back me up on Patreon. While I agree it is in United States Dollars ($) and not Indian Rupees (₹), I’m looking at an alternative as well, maybe PayU or RazorPay or Instamojo. But till then, Patreon seems to be the best option. I will add that there are more articles lined up for readers, including on Pune’s electric buses, Mumbai’s water transport and more.

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With Google Earth’s New Imagery, Catch Some Mini-Buses On The Map!

So, a lot of you might know that I love to spend a lot of time on Google Earth. In the past, I’ve also written an article (for Swarajya) based on my observations on Google Earth ( UPA-Era National Highways Created Quite A Mess, Nitin Gadkari Needs To Fix This First) I’m not the only one. Colonel (Retired) Vinayak Bhat too has written many articles (for The Print) based on revelations from satellite imagery to reveal the nefarious deeds of our not-so-friendly neighbours Pakistan and China. You can read them here.

Readers of this blog may be aware that I have in the past even used Google Earth screenshots for a part of an article here: Explained: Why There Is No Direct AC Bus From Versova-Yari Road To Andheri Station

This article is to merely show that Google Earth has updated its satellite imagery of Mumbai. You now have a splendid view of construction of various metro corridors in the city, the Mumbai Trans-harbour Link (MTHL), the Coastal Road, along with several projects in Navi Mumbai including the Western Dedicated Freight Corridor and Bharat Mala and Sagar Mala projects.

The updates, with imagery from 30 January and 27 February 2020 also shows a lot of updates featuring BEST’s new fleet of mini-buses and midi-buses.

So let us start at Andheri. Below is a map of Andheri Station (West) where BEST’s initial flurry of mini-buses were launched. You can see a large number of buses parked at the main Andheri (West) Bus Station and another, albeit smaller lot further south at the Kumkum Bus Stop.

Andheri Station

No mini-buses were spotted at Agarkar Chowk, Andheri (East) because mini-buses there were launched in March.

Next up is Goregaon Station (East). As you can see from this image, there are many buses scattered all over Goregaon (East) Bus Station. Some are inside the bus station while some are outside. That’s because similar to Andheri, some buses have their bus stops outside the bus station.

Goregaon Station

While there is one mini-bus from Goregaon Bus Sation (West), that was launched in February and this image is from January. Also, do note, while Andheri and Goregaon stations may look similar, the elevated deck above the Harbour Line platforms at Andheri is much larger while the one at Goregaon is not continous.

And now, going a little to the East. Actually, much much to the east. This is Deonar Depot. As you can see from this image, these are not the Force Diesel mini-buses but the Tata CNG Midi-buses.

Deonar Depot

After Andheri (and Jogeshwari, both of which come under the Oshiwara Depot), Deonar seems to have got the largest lot of AC-buses. Deonar was earlier home to a huge lot of the Cerita fleet (Purple Faeries) along with Oshiwara, Magathane and Mulund.

Coming down south, we see Byculla Station (West) with a few midi-buses. These buses all belong to the Mumbai Central Depot.

Byculla Station

After Byculla, we can also see some of the same buses at Mahalakshmi Station (West). These are the buses that start from Byculla Station (West) and terminate at Breach Candy Hospital.

Mahalakshmi Station

Here is a snapshot from the Mumbai Central depot that is home to all the mini-buses in South Bombay. These buses ply in areas including Mumbai Central, Nagapada, Grant Road, Mahalakshmi, Breach Candy, Byculla, Sandhurst Road, Pandit Paluskar Chowk (Opera House), Vasantao Naik Chowk (Tardeo), Cumbala Hill, August Kranti Maidan, Haji Ali and Nana Chowk.

A little to the East, here is Wadala Station (West) and the Wadala Bridge monorail station.

Wadala Station

And the last picture is from Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Chowk/ Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj VastuSangrahalaya (formerly the Prince of Wales Museum). These are buses coming from either Ahilyabai Holkar Chowk/Churchgate Station or Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) and headed for Gateway of India or terminating at Dr. SPM Chowk.

Shyama Prasad Mukherjee chowk

Now, these are the only ones I’m posting here because there are the only ones where significant amount of red buses have been spotted. There are a few outside Dadar Station (East) but mostly on the road elsewhere. I can’t spot any outside Parel-Prabhadevi Station (West) or at Comrade P K Kurne Chowk (Doordarshan) due to the shadow from taller buildings in the vicinity.

So, till the next post. Have fun trawling through Google Earth.

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

In a stunning revelation, it has been revealed that the current Maharashtra government may consider running buses in the tunnels of Mumbai Metro’s famed Line 3 project.

Without the controversial SEEPZ depot, the metro cannot be operational since it won’t have a place to park trains and carry out their maintenance. In order to sort this mess out, the government has decided that they will run BEST buses in the pair of 33.5km long tunnels.

Confirming the developments, an official on the condition of anonymity said that BEST had already been running buses in tunnels for almost a decade and this would be nothing new. “We’ve run buses on the Eastern Freeway, they’ve taken the flyover and the tunnels, what is new?”, he said.

He added that while initial proposals involve letting buses drive into the tunnels at the Sariput Nagar ramp in Jogeshwari, there are plans to set up additional ones at Bandra-Kurla Complex and the Airport as well. The government may also set up a crane to lower the bus into the tunnel so buses need not run only in them, he added. The plan is apparently to run the mini-bus fleet in the tunnel, from what we gathered.

When asked, where the idea came from, he directed the questions to another officer, who on the condition of anonymity as well, gave us an answer. “With everything operating at half capacity right now, some of us looked for other ways to spend our time. I opened Google Earth to see the Attari-Wagah border and then continued on that road to Lahore where I saw a BRTS on a flyover. We then went for lunch, and when I came back, one of my colleagues showed me Elon Musk’s Boring Company”, he said.

You see, Lahore BRTS has a long elevated stretch. If they run a bus on that, why can’t we run a bus in our metro tunnels? We’ve run buses inside the tunnel on the Eastern Freeway?

The officer

When asked about the inspiration from Elon Musk, he said that Musk’s plan was the first to have tunnels under a city and run regular vehicles in them. When pointed out that Musk had a change of heart in 2018 and decided to allow public transport through the system, he responded with “That’s why we’re planning on running buses in them”.

When asked about what would happen about the 31 trains ordered from Alstom, we were told “Jab aaega, tab dekha jaega” (We’ll see about it when they arrive). A third official even dropped a comment that they may be sold to the Mumbai Suburban Rail. We don’t know if he realises that they run on different track gauges.

Whatever, happens, let us hope that Mumbai finally gets the public transport it deserves.

Note: To know how a crane would be used to lift a bus in and out, see this video on how a crane is being used to lift a tractor off the metro viaduct.

Please note: This article is satire and should be treated as such.

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If you intend to step out, whether to board on minibus or metro, please wear a mask, carry sanitizer and maintain social distancing.

Also Read:

Stuck In Traffic? Here’s Elon Musk’s Boring Way To Move Vehicles

What The Boring Company Now Has In Store For Mass Transit

Featured image: Sitting in a BEST A-8 Express (yes, Purple Faeries) through the BARC tunnels on the Eastern Freeway.

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After Offering To Ferry Patients, BEST Converts Mini-Buses To Ambulances

Nearly two weeks after BEST offered to ferry passengers to hospitals, the undertaking has now converted seven of its mini-buses into basic ambulances for Wuhan Coronavirus patients, reports Rajendra Aklekar.

As reported by Mr Aklekar, BESTs workshops have built a completely air-tight partition between the rear section of the bus and the driver’s section. All seats have been removed and the rear emergency door is being used to access the bus.

From being the city’s lifeline, BEST is now the city’s life-saver. We hope to see more buses pressed into action to beat this pandemic in the days to come.

The Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai/Brihanmumbai Municipal Corproation (MCGM/BEST) put out an entire list of what the mini-buses are doing.

Buses are being used to transfer asympotamatics, and carry perishable items.

Also, on 14 April, Google put out a Doodle thanking Public Transportation Workers.

Google Doodle thanking Public Transportation workers
Google Doodle thanking Public Transportation workers

That’s all from me now. Say hello to Mumbai’s mini-ambulances.

Also Read: This Is How BEST Is Helping Fight The Pandemic

Also Listen: [Public Service Announcement] – Giving Way to an Ambulance

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Featured Image: BEST minibus at Dadar (Vishal/Twitter)

You can view the original image here

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