MUMBAI: Over three lakh commuters, including officer-goers and school and college students, were badly hit on 38 bus routes across the city on Thursday, after BEST withdrew 400 CNG-run wet-lease buses from its fleet due to repeated breakdowns and the recent fire incidents.
BEST officials said they have deployed 297 buses from “other bus routes” to these 38 routes. However, sources said, this move has ‘backfired’ as it affected the frequency on the routes from where they were pulled out.
The BEST had a fleet of around 3,800 buses in October last year when 280 Mini buses stopped operations and later 150 buses were scrapped till December – bringing down the fleet size to 3,370, and now 12% of the fleet has been further reduced to around 2,970 buses, with 400 CNG-run buses off roads.
