New Delhi, Sep 23 (IANS) Inter-state bus services from the usually busy Kashmere Gate terminus here came to a complete halt Thursday as waist-deep flood waters inundated the complex. Passengers were left in a lurch as officials had no idea of who would clear the water or when could the buses start plying.
‘Factors like the complex being in a low-lying area and constant downpour have caused waterlogging in this area. Services of the buses have been halted from the terminus,’ Kashmere Gate terminus superintendent Ashish Kumar said.
According to Uma Sharma, the local Municipal Corporation of Delhi councillor, nothing can be done till the level of the Yamuna river declines.
‘We cannot do anything till the level recedes to 205 metres. Only then will the pumps be effective in draining the large quantity of water out of the complex. Our wait may take up to four to five days,’ Sharma said.
Sharma said the issue was not only the deficiency of pumping machines to drain out water. ‘Petrol and diesel to run these machines are not provided to us, drains aren’t unclogged on time and various departments involved in maintenance sit contentedly blaming one another.’
An executive engineer of the MCD, deputed in this area, when asked said that the responsibility to drain out water from the area lay with the irrigation and flood control department.
Officials of this department, when contacted, said they were not aware of the problem but the onus lay with the MCD.
In the midst of all the blame game, it was the passengers who were left at the receiving end.
‘The bus terminus is in a state of total disarray. None knows when the operations will resume… the passenger has yet again been left stranded,’ said Mohan Raj, a contract labourer who had come to terminus to board a bus to Dehradun.
Water accumulated from the heavy downpour had earlier in the month entered the compounds of the bus terminus and pumps had been installed to drain out the water. Those measures have this time proved largely ineffectual as authorities themselves admit.
‘Water was accumulating here for the past two to three days, why did the authorities not take notice at the right time. Chaos ensues when the busiest bus terminus in the city gets shut down completely, but to the officials it does not matter,’ said Ankit Varshney, a shopkeeper near the terminus.
