BEST strike leaves Mumbai paralysed

Normal life in Mumbai was affected on Monday as thousands of drivers, conductors and employees of the BrihanMumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST), the civic transport undertaking, went on an indefinite strike to press for various demands including timely disbursement of salary.

It has deeply affected Mumbaikars as Monday was also Raksha Bandhan.

As of January 2015, the BEST has a fleet 3,600 to 3,800 buses - and more than 30 lakh people use them for their daily commute.

The BEST, one of the biggest public sector bus fleet owners, employees more than 36,000 people. Nearly half of them are participating in the strike.

The BEST Employees Union president Shashank Rao said that the employees had demanded that their salaries should be paid on time and a written undertaking should be given, but the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) administration failed to provide it.

The BEST undertaking issued a circular on Sunday evening warning the employees of disciplinary action under the Maharashtra Essential Services Maintenance Act (MESMA) if they go on strike.

Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray had called a meeting on Monday evening of the administration and the employees to discuss the issue and find out a solution.  Mumbai mayor Vishwanath Mahadeshwar also held a meeting, however, no solution was arrived at.

On Sunday morning, chief minister Devendra Fadnavis held a meeting BMC commissioner Ajoy Mehta and BEST general manager Surendrakumar Bagde to discuss the issue.

With buses not plying, taxis and autorickshaws were seen making some fast bucks.