Put forward proposal to have seats reserved for them in public transport buses, but BEST says it's not possible to do so
Put forward proposal to have seats reserved for them in public transport buses, but BEST says it's not possible to do so
The Assembly elections are scheduled for October and you'd think corporators are vying for seats in the Vidhan Sabha.
But that, it appears, is not their priority. BMC corporators have put forward a proposal to have seats reserved for them in BEST buses.
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BEST RIDE: Mayor Shubha Raul travels in a BEST bus. She said the matter will come up for discussion next week. |
Shiv Sena corporator Advocate Manmohan Chonkar, who mooted the proposal, said, "Most of us travel by BEST buses.
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If MLAs can have seats reserved on state transport buses, then why not us? We have asked BEST to reserve two seats for us, but if that's not possible, even one seat is fine.
If we find senior citizens and women commuters standing, we will offer our seat to them." Corporator Vishnu Korgaonkar from Andheri said, "We will discuss the number of seats with BEST."
Not feasibleBut BEST is not keen on the proposal considering there are 227 BMC corporators. Dilip Patel, chairperson, BEST, said, "I don't support the proposal because corporators already get free rides on buses.
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If we fall for their demands, we will send the wrong message to the common man." Pravin Chheda, former chairperson, BEST, agrees.
u00a0"It's not feasible to go ahead with the proposal. Less than 50 per cent corportators use BEST buses. And we already have seats reserved for women, senior citizens and differently-abled people," he explained.
A single-decker BEST bus has a seating capacity of 50 passengers with four seats reserved for women and two each for pregnant women, senior citizens and handicapped people.
The matter will come up for discussion at the BMC corporation meeting next week. Mayor Shubha Raul said, "We will discuss it in the corporation. There must be some reason behind the notice of motion."
Now What?Corporators will discuss the proposal in a meeting next week. If a majority of corporators agree to the proposal, it will go to BEST for administrative work and implementation
Raksha Bandhan gift from BEST,RLYSBEST will operate 162 additional buses on Raksha Bandhan. "We will deploy traffic officers, inspectors and security officers at various bus depots to assist passengers," said Dilip Patel, chairperson, BEST.
Central Railway will also start a return ladies special train between Panvel and CST during peak hours from tomorrow. This will be the first such service on the route.
