Mumbai: Transport experts slam BEST Undertaking’s film theatre plan

Transport experts lashed out at the BEST Undertakingrsquos revival plan which involves converting three bus depots into film theatres ldquoThe Maharashtra government could raise Rs 18000 crore for the Coastal Road For BEST why is it looking at lsquoredevelopmentrsquo of depots Everyone knows what happened to Kurla and Mahim depots Did BEST get any benefit It is an unfair move and I donrsquot know why the government is insisting on thisrdquo A V Shenoy of the Mumbai Vikas Samiti and Mumbai Mobility Forum saidldquoThe redevelopment particularly of Bandra West station bus depot will be a total disaster It will worsen congestion in an already heavily congested area Lucky Junction is a nightmare just a few feet from the bus depot The road to the junction is very narrow Construction of a highrise here will multiply traffic woes and the new building will generate so much car trafficrdquo Aamchi Mumbai Aamchi BEST convener Vidyadhar Date saidRohit Dhende of Bus for Us Foundation said ldquoA similar idea had been floated by former transport minister Diwakar Rawate who conceptualised a theatre troupe but it never came to fruition Apart from generating ticket sales BESTs should initiate steps forward in creating other resources The idea is certainly interesting but whether such a concept will come to fruition soon remains to be seenrdquoAccording to transport expert Aditya Rane while the chief ministerrsquos initiative to explore nonfarebox revenue through commercial development is welcome Mumbais immediate priority should be to expand BESTrsquos bus fleet ldquoToday BEST operates only 2800 busesmdasha sharp fall from the 4800 buses it had a decade ago Given the citys growing population and demand Mumbai urgently requires a fleet of at least 10000 buses Instead of isolated measures the focus should be on funding the procurement of at least 2000 new buses each year supported by viability gap funding VGF from the BMCrdquo he saidMore funding neededRane added ldquoIt is deeply concerning that while BMC is spending Rs 5000 crore on the Coastal Roadmdasha project that will primarily benefit only 4 per cent of car usersmdashit allocates merely Rs 1000 crore to BEST which serves 35 lakh citizens daily The annual budget for BEST needs to increase to at least R2500 crore if the city truly wants a robust reliable public transport system While generating nonfarebox revenue through commercial development is a good move itrsquos important to note that historically such initiatives have never contributed more than 10 per cent of revenue for State Transport Undertakings STUs A few years ago MSRTC had similarly proposed developing minitheatres for Marathi cinema at bus stations However most of those bus stations havenrsquot even been redeveloped let alone seen cinemas take shape Rather than focusing narrowly on cinema halls the government must first conduct thorough landuse and commercial feasibility studiesrdquoSupport for decisionSpeaking in favour of the decision bus enthusiast Shubham Padave said ldquoI support this decision All this will only increase revenue of the undertaking and even power customers will increase In addition to the five depots the BEST should also add Seepz bus stand and Hiranandani Powai to the list The Seepz bus depot had been nonoperational due to Metro work but the land is in a prime area and will fetch good revenue Hiranandani is a very big bus station near Powai but only three routes 359M 418 and 602 operate from there The rest of the space is not being utilised If BEST develops revenue sources its dependency on BMCwill endrdquoMeanwhile activist Anil Galgali said ldquoIt is a good thing that Marathi cinemas are being built at five BEST depots to boost the economy But earlier private builders benefited from the redevelopment of BEST depots and no inquiry has been made about them to date Similarly there was a similar idea when Rangsharda was built on government land in Bandra West but now it is a hotel business Sharda Cinema of Mumbai Marathi Granth Sangrahalaya has been permanently closed Considering such examples a proper study should be done before such a plan is maderdquoPossible solutionAccording to Rane a better approach would be for the Urban Development Department to introduce a TransitOriented Development TOD policy for bus depots and terminals By allowing higher FSI up to 40 at highfootfall locationsmdashsimilar to Metro stationsmdashand using the FSI premium to crosssubsidise STUs like BEST and MSRTC we can create a sustainable model for both transport and urban development Mumbai deserves a public transportfirst visionmdashnot just theatres at depotslsquoUnfair moversquoA V Shenoy Mumbai Mobility ForumlsquoThe government could raise Rs 18000 crore for the Coastal Road For BEST why is it looking at lsquoredevelopmentrsquo of depots It is an unfair move and I donrsquot know why the government is insisting on thisrsquoVidyadhar Date convener Aamchi Mumbai Aamchi BESTlsquoThe redevelopment particularly of Bandra West station bus depot will be a total disaster It will worsen congestion in an already heavily congested arearsquoRohit Dhende Bus for Us FoundationlsquoThe idea is certainly interesting but whether such a concept will come to fruition soon remains to be seenrsquoAditya Rane transport expertlsquoIt is deeply concerning that while BMC is spending R5000 crore on the Coastal Roadmdasha project that will primarily benefit only 4 per cent car usersmdashit allocates merely R1000 crore to BEST which serves 35 lakh citizens dailyrsquoShubham Padave bus enthusiastlsquoI support this decision All this will only increase revenue of the undertaking and even power customers will increasersquoatOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params