The Hindu : New Delhi News : No end to blue terror Law & order

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Dec 29, 2007
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New Delhi

New Delhi

No end to blue terror Law & order

The authorities need to shed their “pass the buck” attitude, writes Devesh K. Pandey

Despite the huge public outcry all round over the Blueline bus-related deaths in the Capital, no immediate solution has emerged so far from any quarter to deal with the grave problem that has resulted in death for 116 people so far this year.

While most people are demanding that these buses be phased out at the earliest, there is also a school of thought according to which the solution lies elsewhere. The general public perception is that the administration is not firmly committed to finding a quick and feasible solution to the problem. The usual excuse that the administration offers is that the Blueline buses can only be replaced in a phased manner as procurement of new buses will take time.

Interestingly, the large-scale drive that resulted in impounding of many Blueline buses in recent months has made people realise that such an exercise would also lead to an acute shortage of buses in the public transport system. So the tacit answer to the demand for removal of these buses is that an immediate solution is not in the offing.

Investigations into the Badarpur accident -- that claimed seven lives in October -- revealed why it is difficult to rein in these killers on the road. Preliminary inspection of the bus involved revealed that its speed governor had been tampered with. This exposed the futility of installing speed governors in buses without having an effective system of conducting surprise checks on their functionality.

Further, it came to light that the bus was actually owned by someone else and was being operated by another person who according to the police had a criminal past. Once a helper in a Blueline bus, the accused graduated to become a driver and was involved in a fatal accident in Badarpur way back in 1999. Police records state that he was also booked in two cases of fighting and criminal intimidation at New Friends Colony and Sarita Vihar. Once he started getting contracts for Blueline buses, he allegedly began to extort money from their drivers. The bus contractor now owns five buses and, prior to being booked in the latest case, his clout was allegedly being used by over 20 more buses to evade “challans”.

To make matters worse, it is not just the Blueline buses that are responsible for all the fatal accidents. Many other vehicles including buses of the Delhi Transport Corporation are also involved in a significant number of deaths on the road. “So why blame only the Blueline buses for road accidents,” asks a police officer, conceding that adequate efforts are not being made to arrive at a scientific solution to the issue.

Many people are of the opinion that the authorities concerned need to shed their “pass the buck” attitude and probe the exact causes of fatal accidents on the Capital’s roads. Through comprehensive legwork they should try and identify defects in road and traffic engineering, take initiatives to modify the traffic sense of road users and get rid of unwanted structures that prevent a free flow of traffic. But first and foremost, the authorities should ensure that the drivers involved in dangerous driving and fatal accidents are kept off the road for good.

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