Even though only two of the 505 bus routes of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport Undertaking (BEST) are making profits, the organisation is still not compromising in the upkeep of the buses, resulting in mounting debts for the transport undertaking.
The buses plying on the two profitable routes are bus numbers 169 (Worli Village to Prateeksha Nagar) and 415 (Majas Depot to Agarkar Chowk, Andheri). There are 187 breakeven routes and the remaining 316 routes make losses.
The efforts of an average of 12 BEST employees go into ensuring that one bus keeps plying on Mumbai’s roads. The BEST has a fleet of around 4,200 buses, including air-conditioned and normal buses. A quarter of the fleet runs on diesel, which is expensive as compared to the Compressed National Gas.
As diesel prices keeps on increasing, the calculation for the BEST authorities too goes haywire, in combination with rising establishment costs.
“It is our obligation to run the buses; we do not see profits or revenue to keep the wheels rolling.
On Sunday for instance, we reduce our operations as there are less people stepping out of home,” said AS Tamboli of BEST.
However, in order to ensure that Mumbaikars get best quality of buses, the organisation has continued to take loans from financial institutions as well as the civic body. Currently, its principal outstanding from banks is close to Rs2,500 crore, whereas it has just taken another debt of Rs1,600 crore from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.
2 profitable routes
169 (Worli Village To Prateeksha Nagar)
415 (Majas Depot To Agarkar Chowk, Andheri).
