Navi Mumbai: While the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation has set up a disaster management team to tackle flooding during the monsoon, its transport undertaking, the Navi Mumbai Municipal Transport (NMMT), is also taking steps to ensure trouble-free journeys for its passengers.
NMMT officials are inspecting all the buses for any technical glitches so that no breakdowns occur during the monsoon. The officials are checking if the brakes, tyres, bus wipers, lights and windows are in proper condition and there are no leakages from the roofs.
“We are inspecting the 476 buses in lots, and have already completed most of the work. Around 50-60 buses, both standard and air-conditioned, have been brought in for repair at the workshop to avoid any kinds of disruptions and failures during the rainy season,” said Nilesh Nalawade, the transport manager in charge.
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The transport utility will also deploy additional staff to man its 24x7 toll-free helpline (1800-267-4747) to address commuter’s complaints of monsoon-related emergencies and to give information about bus schedules. The helpline, set up in June 2015, registered around 40 to 50 calls during monsoon last year.
Passengers can also contact other helplines at the Turbhe bus depot (27846724), Asudgaon depot transport control room (27451900) and the Ghansoli depot transport control room (65030304).
Officials said that all depots will have sufficient manpower round-the-clock to tackle monsoon-related disasters.
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“In case of bus breakdowns due to flooding, we have deployed a special squad equipped with breakdown vans. Commuters can directly call the helpline number,” one official said.
Most commuters, however, say that despite preparations, NMMT buses break down every monsoon. They say that they have to deal with broken windowpanes, leakages from the roofs, torn seats, and poor frequency of buses, among other issues.