India, Dec. 25 -- The state government has transferred Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) general manager Anil Diggikar as additional chief secretary of the disabled persons' welfare department. Principal secretary of industries Dr Harshdeep Kamble, a 1997 batch IAS officer, has been named as his replacement.

Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis wants BEST to be streamlined and services to be improved before the civic body polls scheduled in early 2025. The decision to remove Diggikar, a 1990 batch IAS officer, was taken in the wake of a spate of recent accidents involving BEST buses. Among notable examples, on December 9, a BEST bus rammed into at least 40 vehicles, killed nine persons and injured over 40 others in Kurla afte...