Mumbai: The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) Undertaking on Tuesday resumed partial bus operations from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT), four days after suspending services due to the ongoing Maratha quota agitation. The restoration of routes 138 and 115 offered relief to office-goers bound for Nariman Point, Backbay and Colaba, many of whom had been forced to walk to work amid the disruption.

The protest, led by activist Manoj Jarange, had drawn thousands of Marathas to south Mumbai, choking traffic and paralysing public transport around CSMT. With DN Road, Mahapalika Marg and Hazarimal Somani Marg still closed by police, more than 24 bus routes remain diverted, curtailed or suspended. Authorities are diverting services via Mahatma Phule Market, LT Marg and Metro Junction towards Hutatma Chowk.

Meanwhile, security personnel cleared protesters who had been camping inside CSMT premises since the weekend. The operation came after the Bombay High Court ordered Jarange and his supporters to vacate Azad Maidan by 3 p.m.

A senior Government Railway Police (GRP) official said that GRP and Railway Protection Force teams, supported by 60 Riot Control Force jawans, were deployed to secure the station. Constant announcements were made urging agitators to leave, while authorities prevented fresh groups from occupying platforms. Some Maratha community leaders also appealed to new arrivals not to stage sit-ins at the station.

By Tuesday evening, GRP confirmed that protesters had been removed from CSMT’s suburban concourse and platforms, though sections of the square outside the terminus remain occupied. Traffic police have reopened both lanes of DN Road between JJ Flyover and Hutatma Chowk, offering limited relief to commuters. (With inputs from Agencies)