As we all know, that Mumbai local trains are back in operation for all the commuters, which has given a big relief to Mumbaikars.

Through this #thread I will try to highlight, how Shivsena has misused its power in Mumbai, to stop local trains and earn money through BEST buses.

Here a report claims that average 26 lakh people travelled in BEST Buses everyday.
Which means 26 lakh people were forced to buy a BEST ticket everyday. Remember BEST revenue goes to BMC which is run by Shivsena & revenue of local railways goes to the centre
Idea was to gain more

Local trains were shut down or kept for limited purpose on the grounds of social distancing & preventing spread of COVID. But clearly BEST was no solution for it. Buses were overcrowded & highly inconvenient for travellers. There was a point whr BEST was running beyond capacity

Finally in October 2020, BEST decided to lease 1000 buses from MH State Transport (MSRTC).

BEST had a fleet of 3400 buses, which was carrying 25 lakh passengers each day, now 1000 more added, so you can imagine wat kind of social distancing was maintained in those buses.

Railway officials kept insisting that they have the staff to manage the overcrowding & it will ease the social distancing pressure of BEST buses. But Uddhav Thackeray Government kept delaying the start of the local trains by saying they will take decisions depending on cases.

Maharashtra kept dodging the question about starting the local trains where on the other side BEST officials were unable to manage the crowd at the bus stops. Railway platforms are better placed for crowd management. This was a chaotic situation for Mumbai, especially travellers

Buses were in filthy conditions, whr travellers complained about unhygienic conditions especially in pandemic. Mumbaikars travel time was stretched, they lost salaries & they were forced to stay at work place to avoid travel hazards.
4 to 5hrs travelling was forced on everyone.

So clearly Shivsena played a smart game to fill the pockets of BMC while risking the life of citizens. 25 lakh passengers per day multiplied by average ticket price over past 10 months, you can imagine wat amout of revenue was generated. There should be an investigation in this.