Covid-19: Special buses for med, civic staff today

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will run special BEST buses for staff providing essential services and police personnel to get to work after buses and

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) will run special BEST buses for staff providing essential services and police personnel to get to work after buses and Mumbai suburban trains were discontinued in the city amidst the coronavirus outbreak.

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Essential service staff include civic employees, doctors, nurses and other medical staff of government and private hospitals. The buses will also cater to grocery and medical store employees, telephone and internet service providers.

The employees will have to show an identification document to board the buses, stated a circular issued by Municipal commissioner Praveen Pardeshi on Sunday.

“To allow essential services and commodities to run uninterrupted, we are allowing these buses to cater to employees of grocery and medical stores,” Pardeshi told HT

About 16 BEST bus routes have been selected to operate the buses for the employees.

For staff residing outside of Mumbai, 540 MSRTC buses have been arranged, 225 between Palghar, Virar, Nalasopara, Vasai up to Borivli and Dadar station, 275 between Asangaon, Badlapur, Ambernath, Kalyan, Dombivli up to Thane, and 40 buses from Panvel to Vashi or Dadar.

However, to reduce overcrowding of these BEST and MSRTC bus services, BMC has urged owners of essential item stores to arrange bus services for their employees. To ferry these buses on the streets, organisers will have to email the vehicle numbers to the transport commissioner.