Sunday, Feb 22, 2004
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Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary | New Delhi
By Sujay Mehdudia
NEW DELHI, FEB. 21 . Despite all efforts to make public transport system in the city safe, efficient and user-friendly, the Delhi Government has failed to rein in the undisciplined rogues on the road. While some seem to have the licence to kill, others have the licence to fleece commuters with little fear of the law or action by the authorities or the police. This fact has been exposed in two recent drives launched by the authorities against the Blueline buses and autorickshaw drivers in the Capital. In fact, the scenario as far as Delhi is concerned is very worrisome for those who travel by the public transport. The mindless competition on the roads, inexperienced drivers and attempts to corner a larger share of commuter traffic have made not only travel but driving and even walking on Delhi roads very unsafe. Be it the Blueline bus drivers or the errant autorickshaw drivers, the drives against them have failed to yield effective results and helpless commuters continue to suffer. After continued failures on this front, the Delhi Government is planning to launch a drive to discipline the reckless Blueline bus operators from March 1 in view of the public outcry against these rogues on the road. Interestingly, the Blueline buses continue to flout rules and regulations but still ply on the Delhi roads. A first hand look at a majority of the buses gives a clear indication that their fitness levels are questionable. In fact, experts and a recent study have revealed that the vehicle fitness procedure adopted by the State Transport Authority (STA) is faulty and inefficient. Those taking fitness tests of vehicles are hardly equipped or trained to deal with such an exercise and corruption continues to dominate the certification of commercial vehicles that are a threat on the roads. In a large number of cases, Blueline drivers who have been involved in big offences and involved in fatal accidents continue to drive buses after getting out on bail. There is hardly any check by the Transport Department and the traffic police against the unruly Blueline buses or their drivers. "We have to get ourselves challaned by the traffic police at regular intervals. This fulfils their quota of challans and leaves us with a free run on the city roads,'' remarked a Blueline bus owner. As for the autorickshaw drivers, all disciplinary measures and threats by the Delhi Government to take action against them have hardly worked. The recently- concluded drive against unscrupulous autorickshaw drivers was termed by the Delhi Government as a big success. However, fleecing of commuters continues unabated and the autorickshaw drivers continue to misbehave, overcharge and refuse to ply according to the electronic meters. The Helpline floated by the Delhi Government has hardly proved to be deterrent as the challans served on the errant drivers hardly reach them due to false address given by them or autorickshaws having changed ownership during the past few years. In fact, there has been a tendency in the Government of the day to succumb to pressure from the autorickshaw cartel and after putting up a brave front, giving in to their unreasonable demands without any improvement in the services rendered by them. While the rogues on the city roads continue to thrive due to lack of political will, lakhs of commuters continue to suffer due to absence of any other viable alternative.
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