Filmmaker Saeed Mirza supported the demands of Aamchi Mumbai Aamchi BEST and unveiled the People’s Plan to save the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking to mark BEST Divas on Tuesday. “I have come here for a simple reason: Save BEST, Save Mumbai,” Mr. Mirza said.
The citizen’s collective has received the support of celebrated author Kiran Nagarkar and veteran actor Amol Palekar in the past. Mr. Mirza said, “Our city has lost its poetry and we need to find a way to retrieve it. The BEST is a prime example of what the city was, how it has declined and what it could be acheived with a plan like this.” Mr. Mirza said he and his wife bonded during the bus ride they took every night. He said, “We used to take the last No. 70 bus from Colaba and through the journey I still remember the conversations we used to have. The chit-chat with others. There was a biradari , a friendship. It made the hour-long travel, human.”
Busting myths
Mr. Mirza said that the document was not just a critique but a proper plan that can be executed. Hussain Indorewala, co-convener of the collective, made a presentation highlighting the plan. He said, “We are trying to break several myths regarding the BEST. The chief among them being that the BEST has started making losses. The transport division had always made losses, but earlier it used to be cross-subsidised by the electricity division.” Mr. Indorewala said the second myth was that BEST buses cause congestion. He said, “Vehicles of the city are growing at 6% annually, while the annual increase of Mumbai’s population has been 0.5%. Moreover, all road projects are geared towards private vehicles.”
Core targets
The plan has three core targets: increase ridership, improve quality of service and raise coverage and access. Chief among its proposals, is to create new revenue streams that can subsidise the transport wing of the BEST. The plan has proposed that the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) should subsidise the BEST and write off the loans it has given to the BEST, for which its is expected to pay ₹123 crore as interest in 2018-19.
The plan has also stated that the State government should waive taxes on the BEST and compensate the transport body for the GST levied on purchase of buses and the creation of a public transport fund, which can be financed by the revenue collected from one-time taxes on private vehicles and a fee for parking on the roads.
Mr. Indorewala said, “The polluter pays is the core idea. In London, congestion tax is levied on private vehicles, which is used to subsidise public transport.” The plan also proposes that the fare for the three shortest distances be reduced to ₹4, ₹6 and ₹8 to bring back commuters. It also suggests starting priority bus lanes across the city with the first two being on the Eastern Express Highway and the Western Express Highway.
‘A public service’
Mr. Mirza said that the BEST should not be viewed through the narrow lens of profitability and should instead be treated like a public service. He said, “Imagine, if we didn’t have public hospitals and had to depend on private ones. The city will turn into a jungle if we let BEST die.”
Published - August 08, 2018 12:10 am IST
