BEST’s short-distance AC minibuses for last-mile connectivity have turned into ovens, baking commuters in the October heat, and posing a COVID risk due to lack of ventilation
An AC minibus driver keeps the window open to escape the heat, at Jogeshwari. Pic/Anurag Ahire
Two years after the BEST’s air-conditioned minibuses hit Mumbai’s roads promising cheaper, cooler and faster rides, they seem to have lost favour with commuters. Poor upkeep has meant that the buses have become heat chambers with malfunctioning ACs. Amid complaints of inconvenient rides, mid-day’s reporters and photographers hopped onto some of these buses and found them to be humid and overcrowded.
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Commuters board a bus at Bhandup. Pic/Rajesh Gupta
Drivers and conductors sheepishly admitted that commuters were justified in venting their frustration, while BEST said users can always complain to it if they face any issue. The 21-seater minibuses were introduced in September 2019 to provide last-mile connectivity to lakhs of Mumbaikars. The idea was that these buses would find it easy to negotiate congested roads leading to railway stations. Many such buses ply ‘conductor-less’. Here’s what mid-day experienced on Thursday.
Bus No. A-605
Bhandup railway station (W) to Tembhi Pada
Time: 4.19 pm
As soon as we entered, the heat inside the bus was evident. The temperature indicator showed 32 degrees Celsius. “The temperature doesn’t drop below this mark. It will remain as it is till the end,” said the driver. The bus had more than 30 commuters.
Santosh Nirmal who was travelling with his 10-year-old daughter Swati on bus A-604. Pic/Anurag Ahire
The cooling did not improve even till mid-way. Anand Shinde, who has a private job, said, “This is really terrible. I only travel by this bus because I have to pay less than auto but the heat is unbearable. Many of the AC vents are not working.”
Another passenger, Ganesh Shinde, said, “I don’t know why they call it an AC bus. The temperature on the indicator never drops below 30 degrees Celsius. It’s commendable that BEST is giving us such premium service, but they should be maintained. We have to open the windows to get fresh air amid October heat.”
Bus No. A-416
Ghatkopar station (W) to Amrut Nagar
Time: 1.49 pm
Under the blazing sun, the outside temperature was 33.7 degrees Celsius. Inside the bus, it showed 31.5 degrees. As it left the railway station, many passengers fiddled with vents to direct the flow towards them but in vain. The bus reached its destination in 20 minutes.
Commuters board an AC minibus at Bhandup on Thursday. Pic/Rajesh Gupta
“The temperature remains as it is, it doesn’t come down. Sometimes we have to open the windows to get some fresh air. The maintenance is poor but we can’t help. Moreover, we have been appointed on a contractual basis and we don't have any voice,” the driver told mid-day.
Passenger Dashrath Jadhav said, “This bus has not only saved my money but reduced hassles too. But despite being an AC bus, it’s very hot. One has to keep the head under the airflow to not feel suffocated. The BEST must pay attention to its maintenance.”
Bus No. A-608
Time - 2 pm
Kanjurmarg Railway station to Hanuman Nagar, Bhandup (W)
As it left the station, the conductor rued, “The buses are ill-maintained. These are owned and run by contractors so not much care is taken. At times, we have to tell passengers to open the windows if they find it uncomfortable.”
A commuter adjusts the AC vent of a minibus at Jogeshwari East on Thursday. Pic/Anurag Ahire
The bus takes less than 20 minutes to reach its destination. The temperature indicator showed 30 degrees. We sat near the driver and the place was hotter. “You can imagine how it must be feeling while driving this bus the whole day. Nobody is bothered about the condition of these buses,” he said.
User Suman Patil, who lives at Hanuman Nagar, said, “I never find the bus cool. Many times these buses are so jampacked that breathing becomes a task. There should be some limit on passengers inside the bus.”
Bus No. A-646
Goregaon East bus depot to IT Park Film city
Time: 3.44 pm
The temperature gauge flashed 29 degrees, but it didn’t like that. Gokuldham resident and student Anand Chaudhary, 21, said, “My classes have started and I travel by the AC minibuses daily. Earlier, the cooling was superb but now it feels like normal air. BEST is fooling people under the pretext of giving AC services.”
Sixty-year-old Keshav Sud, who works at Dindoshi, said, “I travel from Goregaon station to Dindoshi every day but it doesn’t feel like air-conditioned and we have to keep the windows open. The buses are not maintained and that is the reason there’s no cooling.
Bus No. A-624
Malad East bus depot to Appa Pada
Time: 1.20 pm
Koknipada resident Ram Gopal Gupta said, “I sell vegetables at Malad East station. I use this service daily. After selling vegetables, I had imagined it would be a nice, cool ride home but it has become utterly frustrating in the absence of cooling.”
Santosh Nirmal was travelling with his 10-year-old daughter Swati. He said, “I take the bus daily though I have brought my daughter along today. She also told me that there was no AC on the bus. If kids understand this, why BEST doesn’t ?”
Virar resident Sunil Arora, 40, who owns an electronics shop at Kokni pada at Malad East said, “After my local travel, I was happy that my journey till the shop would be on an AC bus. However, for the past year, this bus has not given any kind of AC satisfaction. This bus needs servicing and maintenance.”
Bus No. A-442
Jogeshwari Depot east to Mahada JVLR behind Majas depot
Timing: 3.00 pm
Sudha Shetty, a teacher, said, “Earlier, there were online classes but now teachers and students are going to schools. I teach in JES school at Jogeshwari East and it's suffocating while travelling. My students also face the same problem. These buses are specially for students and professionals. It’s horrible to travel by this bus its AC vents are giving only hot air.”
Another traveller, Meena Fernandez, said, “I use this bus to go to my workplace Bandra. Many bus doors are not working and they are mostly open. I am a senior citizen and at this age at least we need comfortable buses. We have trust in BEST, but it's fooling us.”
Malad resident Vikas Shinde takes the bus to go to his office. “I am a machine operator. After a hard day’s work, if I am paying R6 for AC buses, I should get it. But only normal air comes out of the vent.”
Bus No. A-441
Andheri East to Majas depot
Time: 4 pm
Nurse Shobha Nair told mid-day, “I work at Sanjeevani Hospital and take this to reach there from Andheri station. I wear a double mask and scarf. I find this travel too suffocating. It’s painful that there is no AC in the bus.”
Mogra Pada resident and student Hasnan Ahmed Shakib said, “Daily, I used to go to Meghwadi Kabrastan for Fatiha of my grandmother. My journey is uncomfortable due to no AC on the bus. It’s better to remove the AC and keep windows open.”
‘Will try to fix problems’
BEST chairman Ashish Chemburkar assured to review the maintenance of the buses. “I will check with the bus depots and contractors and will find out if there is any issue with the buses. We will try to fix it.”
BEST PRO speaks
“There could be multiple reasons for no cooling in the buses. One, the short route giving absolutely no time for AC to cool the bus. Second, the day temperature making it difficult for AC to maintain cooling. Third, sometimes passengers turn off the airflow reducing the cooled air to pass inside the bus,” said BEST PRO Manoj Varade. “Still, if passengers feel there is any issue with the bus they can always contact us on 1800-22-7550 (24x7) or write to us on transport@bestundertaking.com,” he added.
Voices
Sudha Shetty, teacher
‘Earlier, there were online classes but now teachers and students are going to schools. I teach in JES school at Jogeshwari East and it’s suffocating while travelling. My students also face the same problem. It’s horrible to travel by this bus, its AC vents are giving only hot air’
Sunil Arora, owns a shop Malad East
‘After my local travel from Virar, I was happy that my journey till the shop would be on an AC bus. However, for the past year, this bus has not given any kind of AC satisfaction. This bus needs servicing and maintenance’
Meena Fernandez, who works at Bandra
“At Bandra, many bus doors are not working and they are mostly open. I am a senior citizen and at this age, at least we need comfortable buses. We have trust in BEST, but it’s fooling us’
Anil Kamble, driver, batch number 5897
The driver told mid-day, “I always keep my window open while driving because there is no cooling in the bus. There are two vents in the front but they don’t work. We can’t drive for 8 hours like this. Passengers fight with us for AC and I don’t have any answers. I keep the AC in full blast but it’s not cooling. It becomes worse during peak hours.”
21
No. of seats in each AC minibus
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