BEST cuts power to all bus stops; they now need safety certificates

Following the death of 21-year-old who was electrocuted at a Mahim bus stop, the Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking disconnected power supply of all bus shelters in the city as a precautionary measure on Friday.

Following the death of 21-year-old who was electrocuted at a Mahim bus stop, the Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking disconnected power supply of all bus shelters in the city as a precautionary measure on Friday.

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So, advertisement hoardings on bus stops may remain unlit for a couple of days.

The civic undertaking has asked all its advertising contractors to get electric safety audit certificate from the Public Works Department (PWD) for their respective bus stops to restart the supply.

The city has 4,289 bus shelters of which 2,789 have been converted into designer stainless steel bus stops. The rest are either old iron bus stops or single pillar stops. These bus stops are maintained by more than 15 contractors and the majority of them are maintained by Times Innovative Media and Prithvi Associates.

“The administration has ordered the contractors to conduct an inspection of each city bus stop and take corrective measures if any flaws are found. They are also required to submit the electric safety audit certificate from the PWD. The BEST will not supply electricity to the bus stop otherwise,” said NA Walawalkar, public relations officer (PRO), BEST.

The undertaking’s officials will conduct independent inspections of the bus stops.

On Thursday, Mahim resident Abdul Karim Shakil got electrocuted and died on the spot while he was sitting at the bus stop, when a short circuit occurred inside the electric hoarding placed above.

The BEST officials added that the incident could have been caused by wire tampering.

“There is a likelihood that someone tried tampering with the wire and as he couldn’t remove it he left the wire half-open which led to the current leakage,” an official said requesting anonymity.