140 new buses lie idle as BEST’s fleet hits new low | Mumbai news

MUMBAI: At a time when Brihanmumbai Electric Supply & Transport Undertaking’s (BEST’s) fleet has shrunk to its lowest in the last two decades at 2,799, another 140 new electric buses are lying idle at Ghatkopar and Vikhroli bus depots for over a month.

In 2009, there were 4,037 buses in BEST’s fleet, which increased to 4,700 in 2011, only to decline to 4,288 in 2014. Now, just over a decade later, the fleet’s strength stands at 2,799. Another 140 new buses are lying idle for the last 45 days.

Two people in the know of the matter shared with Hindustan Times that these buses belong to Olectra Greentech, one of the three wet lease operators BEST has onboard.

One of the two sources shared that the reason for the fleet of buses lying idle is the new protocols introduced in the aftermath of the BEST bus accident on December 9 that killed 10 and injured 40. “A fresh set of protocols were introduced mandating the drivers to undergo 28 days training across the fuel type of the vehicles. Unless the new batch of drivers undergo the training, these buses cannot cater to people,” he said.

Hussain Indorewala, co-convenor of citizen’s group, Aamchi Mumbai Aamchi BEST, opined that “these many buses lying idle shows lack of trained staff management. Had there been sufficient number of trained staff, the problem would not have arisen.”

Recruitment process is also underway to get more drivers onboard given the expanding fleet size of Olectra Greentech, which is owned by the Hyderabad-based Megha Engineering & Infrastructures Ltd. Besides Olectra, Megha Engineering also has another company, Evey Trans Pvt Ltd, operating 351 buses in Mumbai. Other than these two companies, Switch Mobility operates 50 buses and Tata Motors 340 buses.

According to Indorewala, the long-term solution is for the BEST to have their own fleet and staff as that provides flexibility in operations. “For example, when Mumbai had got inundated almost 2 decades ago, BEST could divert buses and staff from unaffected depots to provide service. Given the existing way of operations through wet lease, a time will come when BEST will not have any buses as well as drivers-conductors left, and the private players will rule the roads making bus operations inflexible.”

Olectra Greentech and BEST’s general manager S V R Srinivas did not respond to requests to share their respective versions on the subject.