Is public transport a part of right to life? Aamchi Mumbai Aamchi BEST (AMAB), a citizens’ forum held a public hearing to discuss and find solutions to issues related to the Brihanamumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking, faced by commuters and workers on Friday.
A panel of Justice Hosbeth Suresh; retired Bombay High Court judge Nikhil Wagle; senior journalist Zubeida Sayyed; housing rights’ activist and economist R.Ramakumar lent their ears to the stakeholders. The agenda of the event was to document individual commuters’ experiences in public transport, trace the root cause of problems faced by them, find sustainable solutions and prepare a detailed report to be submitted to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), which will also be made public.
AMAB’s key demands include lower bus fares, lower prices of student passes, full wages for workers, dedicated lanes for BEST buses and most importantly, the funding of BEST through the BMC.
Chairman, AMAB, Vidyadhar Date said, “The BMC Commisioner Ajoy Mehta is vocal about privatisation of BEST and we are strictly against it.” Citizens from across Mumbai spoke at the session. Debi Goenka from Conservation Action Trust said, “The BMC is willing to spend ₹13,000 crore for building coastal roads but is not ready to spend ₹600 crore for maintaining buses.” He further said that air-conditioned buses which were started with a motive of reducing private cars on roads failed because of their low frequency, and were ultimately stopped.
Shashank Rao, general secretary, BEST Workers Union was present at the event to voice workers’ demand. “The BMC is duty-bound to provide essential services. Section 134 of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai Act clearly says that whatever loss is suffered by BEST has to be compensated by the BMC through various other budgets. They can’t just talk about losses and defer from providing these services as these are a part of Right to Life,” he said.
Mansi Singh, a Goregaon resident, spoke about the frequent acts of harassment of women she witnessed in bus 203 and 290, while travelling from Borivali to Malad and how she wants BEST to be safer for women and more affordable to all classes.
Highlighting the situation prevalent in other States, Jameela Begum, a volunteer with Ghar Bachao Ghar Banao Andolan said, “If in Andhra Pradesh buses are run by the government with low fares, why can’t the same be done in the financial capital of India?”
Farzana Sheikh, a blind girl from Bandra who has to travel daily till Mahalakshmi for her classes expressed her views about infrequent buses and her consequent difficulties in travelling to a railway station.
Justice Suresh, after hearing all commuters, said, “Public transport is a human right and is a part of Right to Life. While in United Kingdom, 34% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is spent on social welfare, India spends only 1.7% of its GDP. The State must take full responsibility for Right to Life.”
Suhas Nalawade, a former assistant general manager with BEST said that he is against the privatisation of the undertaking and suggested the Delhi even-odd system for Mumbai to curb traffic and for faster bus services.
Mr. Ramakumar said that BEST is designed with a small-city model in mind and has not grown with the development of the city. AMAB was of the view that privatisation is a temporary aim and the ultimate motive of the BEST management is to completely eliminate bus services from the city.
