MUMBAI: A viral video posted on X by Bandra Buzz shows two boys holding on to a small ledge on the rear of a running BEST bus and risking their lives.
BEST is conducting an inquiry and plans to take action against people doing such stunts.
The X post said: “In an attempt to show flashy moves, two students were spotted dangerously standing on a small ledge of a moving BEST bus while holding onto the bottom of the window at Carter Road in #Bandra today evening. (Wednesday)”
Bus fan Shubham Padave, who commented on the post, told TOI: “It is not uncommon to find young boys performing stunts in Bandra. But BEST should not take such incidents lightly and the Bandra depot officials should take stringent action to ensure that such stunts are not repeated.”
Another social media user said had the boys fallen off the bus and were run over by some vehicle, the blame would have been on the latter.
BEST spokesperson Sunil Vaidya said: “…The incident is uncalled for and I have forwarded the same to the department concerned.” He added that such incidents of stunts were usually seen on suburban trains, and now this is happening on buses, which needs to be stopped.
Meanwhile, BEST was in for flak on Thursday as the fleet fell further to 2,969 buses, with ridership continuing to be at record high of 35 lakh. As on date, 20-30% more passengers are being ferried which is beyond normal capacity of a bus during peak hours.
Sources said that from a ratio of 1 bus per 857 passengers in 2021, it went up to 1 bus for 967 commuters in 2022, and now it is 1 bus catering to 1,179 passengers, according to latest statistics.
A regular bus user, Gandharva Purohit, said: “Unless the new double decker buses are added to the fleet and the carrying capacity is increased, there will be crowds in buses and long waits at bus stops. The question is when are the new double deckers arriving in the suburbs as promised.” BEST plans to deploy 15 new AC double deckers in the suburbs, but this has been delayed.
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