Urban News

“We again took up the matter with BEST and keeping in mind the inconvenience faced by commuters, they agreed to put an end to the issue,” said NMMT general manager Jitendra Papalkar. Early this year, when NMMT had launched its AC bus service, the BEST had refused them entry to its Bandra, Magathane and Dindoshi depots. Thereafter the NMMT refused to allow BEST buses in its depots.

In an interview to Newsline last month, BEST GM Om Prakash Gupta had said the issue would soon be sorted out with the NMMT.

Now that all the issues have been sorted out, sources said adding both transport units have started coordinating with each other over timetables. For example, if an NMMT bus is to leave the Bandra depot for Navi Mumbai, no BEST AC bus would ply on the same route at the same time. This will not only help cut down on losses but provide better services to the commuters.

Also, the BEST now wants the NMMT general manager to work with the BEST as assistant general manager. Gupta said, “We plan to request the government for this and will be happy if it works out.”

BEST officials also pointed out that after the Maharashtra Electric Regulatory Commission (MERC) order to treat transport and electricity as two separate entities and not use profits made by the electricity wing for the transport wing which has been making losses, BEST needs more specialised officers to deal with it. Papalkar, an additional collector rank officer from the revenue department of the Maharastra State Services, played a major role in getting new buses for NMMT under the JNNURM project and successfully launched the AC bus service. Papalkar refused to comment on the latest development.