Thane Municipal Transport employees are forced to work on the street as BMC demolishes their bus junction and cash office in Mulund; Thane mayor says they are looking for a working space
Counting cash, changing rosters, managing duty charts has been happening on the street and passengers also sit in the sun as the waiting area was demolished
Thane Municipal Transport (TMT) employees have been working in the sun, as its major bus junction and cash office in Mulund was demolished by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) last week over flooding issues. Passengers have been forced to sit in the hot sun as the waiting area was also demolished. The bus junction caters to over 10 routes from Thane, Navi Mumbai to Bhiwandi. Over two lakh passengers use it every day.
"TMT is a public transport service and should be treated better. We have been forced to sit in the sun and work. The office and the passenger sitting area is gone. The BMC had slapped a notice and its team demolished all TMT structures," a TMT officer said.
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Staff, passengers suffer
Counting cash, changing rosters, managing duty charts, everything now happens in the street. "It is unfair as the BMC is also a government body and it matters how they treat another government body. Both employees and passengers are suffering," a bus conductor said.
Commuter Shonar Singh said that since the offices and shelter were demolished a few days ago, commuters have to queue up in the sun. "Only the TMT structures were demolished, not anything else. All other structures and shops on the footpath remain intact. Was that the only one illegal?" commuter Amruta Raje questioned.
Ironically, both the civic bodies of Mumbai and Thane are run by the Shiv Sena. Thane Mayor Naresh Mhaske said he has been told about the issue and will be taking it up with his Mumbai counterpart. "I have also received a letter briefing me with details of the action. We will ensure that a new office is built soon. We are also looking for a space so the TMT staff can work there," he told mid-day.
Work to start on drain
BMC's Assistant Municipal Commissioner Kishore Gandhi said that the offices were demolished as work on a drain needs to be carried out there. It is to pass below the area where the TMT office stood. "There have been complaints of flooding in the Mulund station area that is next to the road. A new drain is planned to be built for proper disposal of water and hence the offices have been demolished," Gandhi told mid-day.
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