Thursday, March 28, 2024
HomeOpinionDiaryMumbaikars must use public transport

Mumbaikars must use public transport

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We always look forward to boarding the BEST bus route number 67 because it only costs Rs 10 to travel from Antop Hill Church to Maheshwari Udyan. When our children were young, we used to board this bus on Sundays for travelling from CGS Colony Kane Nagar to Wilson College. Later we used to proceed towards Chowpatty and enjoy the sea waves. There used to be many champiwalas there. Seeing them I used to recollect the song, “Sar jo tera chakraye ya dil dooba jaaye, aaja pyare paas hamare kahe ghabraye, kahe ghabraye…”. Due to God’s grace, I have travelled to many countries. According to me, the BEST bus is one of the efficient modes of transportation and is at par with the buses operating in UK and Singapore.

You can see how BEST bus drivers drive their vehicles through congested roads as it requires good driving skill and patience. We can see conductors saying, “Kaka suttee dya, pudhe chala, pudhe chala.” The string attached to the bell is the best signal for the driver. Conductors perform a very tedious job with great patience, checking the passes, issuing tickets from their handheld gadgets. What gladdens my heart is to see small kids smartly and happily buying ticket or displaying their passes and boarding and getting down from the bus safely.

During rains and flooding, BEST does an admirable job to ply stranded passengers at railway stations. Few years back, in the evening (under dark skies), I was stuck at Grant Road area in knee deep water. Luckily a bus arrived and the conductor asked passengers to board it. The bus stopped at Dadar and from there I could walk towards my home. Those days there were no mobiles. It is our duty to patronize and help the BEST by availing their services. The undertaking is posting losses every year and losing a couple of lakh passengers every month. Lack of bus routes and improper timings were cited as some of the reasons for the loss of passengers. Today people prefer more convenient and cheaper shared autos and taxis to BEST buses.

It is good to hear that the government is planning dedicated lanes for BEST buses at several places in the city to decongest the roads. These include stretches of Eastern Express Highway, Western Express Highway, Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road and the road connecting Haji Ali and Worli. A detailed project report has been forwarded to the traffic police for their inputs.

BEST must regularly maintain its fleet of buses and take steps to generate more income by suitably using its assets. People should not vandalise the buses during riots. Our MPs, MLAs and bollywood artists can also occasionally travel by BEST buses. Citizens must use public transport and avoid using cars.

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