Will continue to run 12m-long buses in station areas: BEST GM | Mumbai News

Mumbai: BEST general manager Anil Diggikar on Saturday announced that the undertaking will continue operations of 12m-long buses outside railway stations and in congested areas. “There is no plan to withdraw long buses from congested routes…There are no diversions anywhere in the city,” he told TOI.
On Saturday morning, the BEST resumed service of its long electric AC bus on route A-332 from Kurla station. This is the same route where a BEST bus, driven by wet-lease driver Sanjay More, crashed into several vehicles and pedestrians, resulting in seven fatalities last Monday. The undertaking also resumed another 12m-long electric AC bus on route A-311 from Kurla West station to Santacruz East station.
A senior official said that with A-332 and A-311 being reintroduced from Kurla West station, the BEST has now resumed 100% operations in the area. This was shut down for 3-4 days after the fatal crash, inconveniencing commuters who were at the mercy of autorickshaws demanding hefty fares outside Kurla station.
The BEST has also positioned vigilance officers to ensure orderly queues at bus stops and police bandobast, including a riot control police van, at Kurla station.
A senior official from BEST’s traffic wing said that a five-member committee was scrutinising all documents submitted by the six wet-lease bus contractors. “They have furnished details of existing recruitment processes for contract drivers and their training protocols. They have also suggested modifications and enhancements to the training programme following the recent incident at Kurla,” he elaborated, adding that these recommendations were being documented alongside the new measures announced by Diggikar. “We shall compile all measures to finalise a comprehensive SOP for wet lease drivers’ training — to be announced next week,” the official added.
Diggikar has announced mandatory simulator-based training for all drivers alongside introducing breathalysers at all bus depots for drivers beginning and concluding their shifts from next week. The BEST GM also questioned the private contractor for the Kurla bus, demanding comprehensive details about the driver More, including his training prior to assignment on the e-AC bus, which is a larger vehicle with sophisticated technology.