New Delhi citizens left without transport after gov. "clean up" - 2010 Games

 

The Delhi government Monday shunted out around 1,600 private Blueline buses ahead of the Commonwealth Games, causing immense hardship to thousands of commuters, including students and office-goers, who had to wait for hours to get into packed state-run buses or pay exorbitant fares to autorickshaws.

The Bluelines buses are being kept off the roads during the Oct 3-14 Commonwealth Games, leaving just the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) buses for the people.

Over 1,600 Blueline buses ply on 132 routes. They were pushed off the roads from Sunday till oct 16 to ease traffic congestion on Delhi roads. The routes on which the buses were taken off pass through central Delhi and near Games venues.


Daily commuters were in a fix as Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) buses were jam-packed. To add to the commuters's woes, the frequency of the DTC buses was also low.

The DTC plies 5,800 buses, including air-conditioned ones.


'I stood for more than an hour, but could not get into any of the jam-packed DTC buses. Though Bluelines were crowded, their frequency was better. And autorickshaws were charging more,' said Nikita Mishra, a resident of Nirman Vihar in east Delhi.


For Gautam Singh, a resident of Okhla with his office in Lodhi Road, the story was no better. 'Without the private buses, it is really difficult to commute because now the bus services are limited.'

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