BEST panel members find leaks and defects in wet lease buses at Mumbai’s Oshiwara depot during surprise checks

Mumbai: After exposing leakages in BEST buses during the pre-monsoon showers recently, three committee members conducted a surprise visit during the weekend to the Oshiwara bus depot, where some of the buses are parked, and found, to their surprise, more leakages and defects in a few buses.A team of three BEST panel members - Ramakant Gupta, Ajay Singh and Santosh Medhekar - reviewed a batch from the 43 recently delivered buses stationed at the depot.Using high-pressure water jets in the bus-washing section of the depot to simulate heavy rain, the panel members found water entering some of the brand-new buses, even though they are still parked awaiting final clearance from the Regional Transport Office.While collecting the dripping water in his folded palms, Gupta said: “This is unwarranted. Allowing vehicles with known leakage points onto the road during monsoon would put commuters at risk and expose passengers to uncomfortable travel conditions.”Another panel member, Singh, said there were four buses found with leakages a few days back and they were taken to the depot for repairs. “Despite pointing out the leakages, I am witnessing more buses with similar dripping of water from the roof. There are a few other defects too,” he said.During checks of the older fleet, they recorded issues such as doors failing to shut as intended, reduced visibility through the front windscreen, weak rear-view visibility and instances where buses appeared to move despite the handbrake being engaged.The panel members alleged that earlier leakage points had been covered with “sticker-like patches”. The measures appeared temporary, with water continuing to seep in during the test despite the reported repairs, they said.Committee members have now directed BEST officials and wet lease contractors to identify and rectify the leakage points and other faults before the buses are cleared for operations, as the city heads into heavier monsoon showers.