By Siddiqah Shaikh
In the scorching heat of may, passengers who travel by bus transportation expect their journey to be merely peaceful.
But their expectations don’t meet reality.
On Wednesday afternoon, passengers of supposedly ‘AC’ bus A252 were not receiving the benefits of air-conditioning, for which they paid ₹1 exceeding the Non-AC bus fare
(Non Ac Bus fare: ₹5 / Ac Bus fare : ₹6).
As we talked to the Ticket Conductor ‘Mastan Banikar’ and found out his perspective where he stated that there were multiple complaints by daily passengers about the severe discomfort provided by
the sweltering heat and the bus companies neglect to repair air conditioning units.
Being optimistic, the passengers are moderately comforted by the open windows operating in ‘AC’ busses.
Surprisingly, passenger struggles does not end here. Along with the blistering heat, the passengers also face the problems of a overladen bus in which getting out on a stop or even handing out tickets has become an impossible task.
The buses advertised to accommodate 21 seated passengers and 7 standing passengers ;
Yet the bus operators have no problem over filling people with an excess number of 20 to 25.
This conspicuous disregard for capacity limits has led to passenger discomfort relating unsafe and uncomfortable travel conditions.
Some passengers when interviewed stated “ In the unbearable stifling heat of summer inside the bus, we have to face the overcrowded bus situation. It is so packed that it feels like there is no air to breathe.”
The overbearing situation of the over crowd has also led to danger situations like fights amongst passengers.
Right in front of us a massive fight broke between two passengers.
One of them missed their stop because there wasn’t enough space to move through the stuffed aisle of people and exit the bus.
The TC could barely manoeuvre through the crowd to hand out the tickets for highlighting the chaos on board.
When we come to discuss about the central line buses of Mumbai, we learnt that normal buses as well as AC buses operate quite smoothly without hesitance by its operating companies.
If all of Mumbai is one and advanced,
Why not give the same amenities to the harbour line which the central line is offered?
Siddiqah Shaikh
