MSRTC strike leaves Ganesh devotees heading home to Konkan in the lurch

MUMBAI: The strike called by employee unions of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) from Tuesday morning has left citizens, especially those heading to Konkan to celebrate the Ganpati festival, in the lurch. The impact is likely to be felt more on Wednesday, as the MSRTC authorities said there would be issues in running the scheduled 1,006 Ganpati special buses to Konkan from the Mumbai, Thane and Palghar divisions. The corporation had planned to operate 5,000 extra Ganpati special buses for Konkan between September 3 and 7.
The strike began at 8 am on Tuesday when 35 bus depots across the state stopped operations. As the day progressed, the number went up and by 5 pm, 59 depots had downed shutters. The Maharashtra ST Kamgar Sanyukt Kruti Samiti or Joint Action Committee, comprising 11 employee unions of MSRTC, called the strike over issues with staff salaries.
This strike has hit MSRTC hard, as of its fleet of 15,000 buses, 50% are off the road. “Of our 251 depots, 59 were completely shut, 77 were partially operational and 115 depots were fully operational,” said an MSRTC spokesperson. “ Of the 22,389 scheduled trips, we had to cancel 11,943. We could run only 50% of the total fleet, which led to a loss of ₹14 to 15 crore in our daily earnings.”
Although Mumbai depots remained operational, those from Thane, Kalyan and parts of MMR were shut. At the Kalyan and Thane depots, passengers who had been waiting desperately for MSRTC buses since morning were livid.
Ramchandra Bhavekar (67), a resident of Thane, waited with his family from 10 am to 1.30 pm for a bus to Mahad. “The Ganpati festival is approaching, and the government usually puts out extra buses for Raigad and Konkan,” he said. “We expected to get a bus but ended up waiting endlessly despite holding valid tickets. All of us are exhausted, and for me, it was particularly tough due to my health issues.”
Many people heading to Konkan, Mahad and Alibaug were unaware of the strike, which led to crowding at the MSRTC depots in MMR. People complained that despite repeatedly asking the staff for an update, they received little information. Families with multiple bags, children and the elderly were forced to return home frustrated.
Ashwini Yadav (47) had a reservation for a Khed bus, but after a long wait with her 83-year-old grandparents, had to return home. “The Ganesh festival is very auspicious for us,” she said. “We usually try to reach our villages before the actual festival for preparations. Despite having a reservation and a plan, this strike shattered our celebration. Why should the strikers inconvenience people to get their demands met?” she said in frustration.
Meanwhile, industries minister Uday Samant, failed to convince MSRTC unions to not go on strike on the eve of Ganeshotsav. The state government then approached Indian Railways and private bus operators, asking them for more train and bus services. An urgent meeting of State Transport employees has been called with chief minister Eknath Shinde on Wednesday evening to sort out the issue.
Union railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said that the railways were already running 342 Ganpati special trains for Konkan, many more than their anticipated number of 302. Railway authorities said that the state government had approached them and if the need arose, they would add more trains for Konkan.
Sources in the railways said they had informed the state government that they could deploy a maximum of four special trains to Konkan, from Diva and Panvel but not from CSMT, LTT and Dadar. The rail officials said that while the MSRTC buses touched 160 different locations across Konkan, the trains connected to only 25 to 30 stations, from where last-mile connectivity to the villages and interiors would be an issue.
A private bus operator and member of the Mumbai Bus Malak Sanghatana said they had told the state government, which has sought an additional 1,000 buses to Konkan, that they would not be able to provide more than 200. “Our 1,200 buses for Konkan are already booked,” he said. “The route requires drivers with specialised skills due to the poor condition of the roads. Also, regular buses running within Mumbai cannot be operated, as there will be a risk of accidents or breakdowns.”