Just a day after enforcing a bandh to protest the fuel price hike, the Shiv Sena-BJP ruled Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is all set to hike BEST fares.
The BEST committee in the civic body, which will meet on Tuesday, is expected to give its nod to a proposal for increasing BEST fares by Rs2.
The civic administration has proposed to hike the minimum fare from Rs3 to Rs5, which will be valid for a commute of up to 2 km.
The BEST administration has tabled the proposal to tide over losses which have been incurred due to the fuel (CNG) price hike. “The BEST is already incurring a loss of Rs252 crore. If the fares are not hiked after the fuel price hike, the losses will rise by another Rs60 crore,” said Omprakash Gupta, general manager, BEST.
Sena corporator and committee chairman Sanjay Potnis said the fare hike was inevitable. “We are left with no option but to increase fares. The fuel hike has enforced the fare hike,” said Potnis.
Ironically, protestors from Sena, BJP damaged BEST buses during the bandh, resulting in losses of Rs2.5 lakh. Also, the BEST suffered a revenue loss of Rs2 crore due to 80% drop in passenger numbers.
However, another committee member Sunil Shinde refuted allegations that the bandh was a face-saving exercise to defend the proposed fare hike. “The Centre is the culprit. We are compelled to hike rates. We can’t be held responsible,” said Shinde. Fares for monthly and quarterly passes have also been hiked.
While the hike in fares is a foregone conclusion, some committee members are in the favour of restricting it to a rupee. “A final decision will be taken during Tuesday’s meeting,” Potnis said.
