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“When are Bluelines going to be phased out?”

NEW DELHI: Seeking replies on the city’s public transport system on as many as 11 counts, the Delhi High Court on Tuesday asked the State Government to inform by when it plans to phase out the Blueline buses from the Capital’s roads.

A Division Bench of the Court comprising Justice Mukul Mudgal and Justice P. K. Bhasin issued the direction while hearing a petition seeking removal of Blueline buses from the roads. The petitions were filed in the wake of a sudden spurt in road accidents involving Blueline buses earlier this month.

The Bench sought information about the number of diesel cars added to the city every year as well as details about the level of pollution caused by a private diesel car compared to a diesel bus.

It asked why the Government was not issuing more permits on crowded bus routes to ease over-crowding in buses.

The Bench asked the Government to provide details about action taken against the buses involved in fatal accidents as well the figures of cancellation of permits of buses involved in two fatal accidents and the average period for which a bus involved in a fatal accident was impounded.

As for traffic management, it directed the Government to inform how many more traffic police personnel it required to deal with the increased traffic and what steps it had taken to install more closed-circuit cameras at traffic signals to record the movement of traffic and violations.

The Bench further directed the Government to inform about the current requirement of public transport vehicles in the light of the 1998 Supreme Court direction that 10,000 more vehicles be added in the city and what steps it was taking to meet the direction.

It sought to know how many more pelican signals, foot over-bridges and pedestrian crossings the Government was planning. It also sought information about the response to the proposal of issuing permits for superior transport facilities at higher charges.

The Bench asked the Government to keep in its mind the battery-operated buses while considering augmentation of the fleet of pubic transport buses in the city. The Court directed the Government to file replies to the queries by August 17. The petitions will now come up for further hearing on August 23.

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