Monorail staff to halt work until dues paid

Mumbai: The MMRDA’s  (Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority) plan to restart the Chembur-Wadala services of monorail on September 1 is stuck in limbo after the employees of the operator have refused to resume duties unless they are paid last two months’ pending salaries. The employees have said that none of them would work until the unpaid salaries are cleared.

According to sources, MMRDA would shell out advance payment to LTSE consortium to help them clear payments. In November, the Maharashtra government shut down the controversial Mumbai monorail service after the safety of commuters was endangered by a series of mishaps and technical glitches, including a fire in one of the trains. The services are expected to resume on Saturday.

“The stand of employees is very clear, if we are not paid till August 31, we are not going to work. If they fail to pay then the delay can be observed. The employees may come to office but will not carry out any tasks. Everyone has to run his or her home and it is not possible to work without the salary,” said an employee requesting anonymity. Around 175 employees of Scomi were sent on leave since June, the staff working under various operations like rolling stock department, maintenance, station masters etc are jobless since then.  

“We had a meeting with the MMRDA on Wednesday, the officials informed that an advance payment will be made to the company to clear all the dues. They asked us not to stop the work from September 1,” added the employee. According to sources, the MMRDA may relax certain timelines pertaining to bill clearance to advance the payment.  

Commenting on the same, a senior MMRDA official said, “We are releasing their bills to clear the dues.”