Click to play videoNew Delhi: Commuters faced yet another harrowing day in the Capital on Monday as only 20 per cent of the Blueline fleet managed to clear the new stringent norms set by the Delhi Government for plying on the roads.
Just 712 out of the 4,000 privately owned Blueline buses were running on Monday—the ones to have cleared the Transport Department fitness test, including being fitted with speed governors.
In order to ease out the pressure the department is running 2,800 DTC buses. Four ladies special buses on the ring road and outer ring road are also being brought. However harried commuters say the government is doing little to solve the issue.
“There are problems but what can we do when the government refuses to help. It has done nothing over the past ten years,” said one commuter.
With Blueline buses out of action, the DTC buses carried a record 41 lakh passengers on Saturday and generated Rs.1.72 crore in revenue.
"It gets especially difficult if you are a woman. The buses are so crowded that one cannot even get to the seats reserved for the ladies," said a lady passenger.
Meanwhile, the Delhi Government’s weekend agenda of inspecting Blueline buses elicited a moderately better response on Sunday, with about 900 buses turning up at the various check points. Of these, 500 were certified as “fit to ply on the roads”. By the end of Sunday’s inspection drive, just 25 per cent of these killer vehicles had opted to undergo the inspection process. On Saturday, only 212 buses had been given an all clear.
The 3,000 Blueline buses that chose to stay away from the inspection camps in view of the stringent approval norms, have been given a two-day extension period. The inspection camps will continue on Monday and Tuesday at 10 DTC depots against the 34 that functioned over the weekend.
According to the Indian Foundation of Transport Research and Training (IFTRT), more than 400 vehicles arrived for inspection with new speed governors as most of the older instruments had been doctored with. Another recurrent deficiency was the provision of only one driver per bus against the stated requirement of two drivers. Most buses were able to provide the correct paperwork for only one driver, an IFTRT spokesperson said.
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