So far, 168 employees of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) have died in Mumbai due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to sources, 90 of these BEST employees were informed that they had contracted the coronavirus and died during treatment. Even after the outbreak of the coronavirus and the subsequent lockdown in March 2020, BEST, Western and Central Railway employees were still on duty. Furthermore, the affected officers, employees and their relatives of Central and Western Railways were treated at the Jagjivan Ram Hospital, Mumbai.
Initially, only essential service personnel were allowed to travel and then other passengers were also allowed to travel in phases. This led to an increase in the number of passengers. As a result, the stress on BEST railway employees increased during the same time.
Meanwhile, so far, 3,310 officers and employees of BEST have been affected. Of these, 3,125 have been treated and recovered whereas 80 are undergoing treatment.
On the other hand, BEST on Wednesday, April 21, decided to cut down its fleet by almost 1,000 buses during this partial lockdown. According to reports, the number of bus services has been cut by 10 per cent due to the dropping passenger numbers. The BEST has already approached the BMC to buy 200 double-decker buses which now stands at 45 buses. This development comes amid ongoing lockdown-like restrictions where only essential workers are allowed to travel through buses and trains.
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