‘Have to wait in bus queues for 2 hours’
As offices reopened with 10% staff on Monday, residents from Dombivli, Kalyan and Badlapur are facing difficulties to commute to their workplaces in Mumbai and Navi Mumbai.
With local trains still not operational, office goers have to depend on state transport and private buses.
Sahil Nakhwa, 36, a Badlapur resident, has to travel to Ghatkopar every day for work. “It is very chaotic at the bus stops or depots, as we have to wait in queue for almost two hours. There is no social distancing followed because the stops are very crowded. Although I am worried about my health, I will get paid only if I reach go to work. So I have no option but to take the bus. Even after getting into a bus, we travel for almost four hours one way every day,” said Nakhwa.
Amit Kale, deputy commissioner of police (traffic), Thane, said, “To control the traffic, we have regulated timings of heavy vehicles from 12pm to 4pm, and 11pm to 5am only. Moreover, as people are not allowed to venture out at night, we have a special night patrol team to monitor movement. The traffic during peak hours is more towards Mumbai and Navi Mumbai; however, we are keeping an eye out on the permissible limit of passengers in all vehicles.” Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) buses have been ferrying government employees to
Mantralaya. “Around 400-600 trips are made on one route to and from Mantralaya everyday from Badlapur, some others from Kalyan and Thane,” said an MSRTC official.
Commuters said bus services should be increased. However, not all office goers are keen on the resumption of local train services. They instead say that there should be an increase in the frequency of buses.
“It is not safe to allow local trains yet, but more buses services will definitely help in reducing the queues at bus stops and depots,” said Dipti Sawant, 29, a Kalyan resident who travels to Ghansoli for work.