In what could be good news for women commuters in Mumbai, Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) Committee on Tuesday gave nod for buying 37 buses for women under Tejaswini Scheme of the state government. These buses will exclusively ferry women commuters, especially during peak hours.
The fresh proposal for buying these non-AC 37 midi or mid-sized buses under the Tejaswini scheme was pending in front of the panel since nearly a month. Earlier in 2017, the BEST administration had proposed to hire these buses on lease. “We want the administration to operate these buses from all the depots, instead of limiting their operation from Colaba and Dadar depots,” directed Anil Patankar, BEST Committee chairman while giving nod the purchase of these buses.
The contractor is expected to deliver a prototype bus in 45 days and remain buses in 4-5 months. “Now try to buy these buses as early as possible,” said Sunil Ganacharya, a senior member of Bharatiya Janata Party on the panel.
Two years earlier, the state had released Rs 11 crore of the Rs 27 crore fund under Tejaswini scheme for buying 100 buses, including 50 AC minibuses, exclusively for female commuters. However, the procurement of the buses was delayed due to the difference of opinion between the panel members and administration.
“Proper training will be provided to BEST employees for maintaining these buses,” said Surendrakumar Bagde, general manager of BEST.
Currently, BEST has a fleet of 3,200 buses and is expected to get 480 more buses, including 80 electric buses. As the number of passengers has gone up by at least BEST is in dire need getting more buses in its fleet, since it slashed fare of its non-AC and AC buses.
