BEST strike leaves NEET candidates struggling as parents spend extra on travel

As the strike called by the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport BEST entered its third day on Sunday midday visited the cityrsquos four NEET reexamination centres to know about the challenges that th candidates and their guardians faced navigating the city to reach exam centresExam centre PM Shri Kendriya Vidyalaya INS HamlaLocation Malad WestNearest railway station Malad 7 kmNearest Metro station ValaniMeeth Chowky Metro 56 kmNearest bus stand Kendriya Vidyalaya 270 metresAutorickshaw charges from railway station Rs 120 minimumBEST bus charges from railway station Rs 15 per personVoicesSalman Javed Shaik 17 Bandra residentlsquoI have accompanied my sister here for her exam I was aware of the special MSRTC buses but I couldnrsquot find any schedule related to this announcement ultimately forcing us to take an auto from Malad railway stationrsquoMrityunjay Pal 38 Bhayandar residentlsquoWe had to take an auto from Malad station which cost us Rs 132 A bus ticket would have cost me just Rs 1520rsquoRashmi Maharana 35 Kurla residentlsquoWe didnrsquot notice any public city buses on our way here I wasnrsquot even aware that there had been special bus arrangements for us I thought there would be no buses because of the strike so we took the train and then the autorsquoNeeta Mahadik 44 Andheri West residentlsquoI have brought my daughter here for her NEET reexam We came to Malad railway station by train but found no buses at all and had to take an auto Getting an auto was so hectic and it cost us around Rs 150 but I also wonder mdash can every parent afford private transport Secondly this exam centre here is so secluded we came here by 11 am and I have to wait back for my daughter till 515 pm There is a lack of basic arrangements The least they authorities could have done was to arrange water for the parents who stayed back in this weatherrsquoAnxious parents wait outside the exam centresExam Centre TP Bhatia CollegeLocation Kandivli WestNearest railway station Kandivli 850 metresNearest Metro station Dhanukarwadi 17 kmNearest bus stand Balbharti 300 metresAutorickshaw charges from railway station Rs 26 minimumBEST bus charges from railway station Rs 10 per personVoicesSonam Brijmohan Patel 22 Goregaon residentlsquoWe came here from Santosh Nagar in Goregaon East We couldnrsquot find any BEST buses in Goregaon and Kandivli as they are on strike We had to take a taxi till Goregaon station and then a train till Kandivli and then we walked from therersquoOm Prakash Vaishya 52 Chembur residentlsquoI came by a cab as taking a train meant three line changes and then taking an auto because of the BEST strike It cost me around Rs 500 I took a cab and it dropped us here in half an hour At the same time if someone took the public transport way it would have taken them about 1525 hoursrsquoThakur College in Kandivli EastExam centre Thakur CollegeLocation Kandivli EastNearest railway station Kandivli station 25 kmNearest Metro station Poisar Metro 13 kmNearest bus stand Thakur College bus stand 150 metresAutorickshaw charges from railway station Rs 43 minimumBEST bus charges from railway station Rs 12 per personVoicesShakir Ansari 47 Govandi residentlsquoI would have taken a direct bus on the 458 route if it had not been for the strike I would have saved money and Metrochange hassles as well I paid Rs 300 for one side I would have paid 90 otherwisersquoPM Shri Kendriya Vidyalaya INS Hamla in Malad WestVaishali Borse 50 Chembur residentlsquoThis strike is forcing citizens to either walk which is timeconsuming or take an auto which is costly I left Chembur around 9 am and reached here by 11 am I saw no buses at Kandivli station so we quickly took an auto and reached here without wasting timersquoMSRTC buses for examineesVijay Gawade MSRTC bus driver PICSSARTHAK MEHTAThe BEST had announced alternative arrangements on Saturday in view of the Sundayrsquos NEET reexamination amid the ongoing strike by its worker unions midday noticed multiple MSRTC buses making rounds near one exam centre mdash KV INS Hamla One of the drivers Vijay Gawade 36 shared ldquoMy usual duty is at Borivli depot Today I have been assigned special duty here on the Sainath Marg in Malad West to Madh Jetty route We are running multiple buses on this route to cater for the NEET students We started trips at 730 am and we will operate till 6 pm Overall around 70 MSRTC buses have come to Mumbai city from the Raigarh divisionrdquo