BEST management to make buses better than rest

Mumbai: Close-circuit cameras to watch your every move, and LCD screens to make your ride entertaining -- this is the new face of Mumbai's buses, after the BEST management has decided to step up security in one of Mumbai's main transportation lifelines..

Says General Manager, BEST, Uttam Khobragade, "We are doing this so that no unlawful activity can take place on any of the buses."

The BEST control room at Wadala will monitor all the cameras on the buses. The cameras have been fitted at entry and exit points.

With over 4 million people travelling on these buses daily, the management says numerous complaints from passengers forced them to take the step. Commuters, of course, are not complaining.

Says Prakash, who uses the buses to commute daily, "There are bomb blasts and other security issues, so the general public prefers traveling by the buses and it is for our safety."

So far, a 100 buses have been wired with cameras, and will be on the roads by next week. The rest of the buses are expected to be fitted with the new equipment over the next six months.

So the next time you get on a BEST bus, just remember Big Brother is watching.