New Delhi, Feb 1 (IANS) A day after the Delhi High Court gave relief to over 300 Blueline buses with valid permits, the privately-owned buses continued their journey on the capital’s roads Tuesday.
‘There are 328 Blueline buses which still possess the permits and are continuing to ply,’ transport commissioner Rajani Kant Verma told IANS.
He said they will comply with the high court orders and as of now they are not going for a fresh appeal.
According to sources in Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC), the Delhi government is not going to renew Blueline permits any more.
‘The court has stated that 328 buses, which have valid permits, can still ply. Of these buses, the permits of many are due to expire in a few months while those of 223 will only expire in 2012,’ a transport official said.
The court’s pronouncement Monday offered relief to anxious bus operators. ‘Not all the Blueline buses will go off the roads as per the directions of the high court. The buses which have valid permits will ply from tomorrow,’ Graduate Bus Operator Association’s T.R. Khera told IANS.
The government is in favour of phasing out all the Blueline buses as they have become a threat to the commuters. The buses have come be known as ‘killer buses’ because of their reckless drivers.
According to statistics, 182 people lost their lives in accidents involving Blueline buses in 2005, the number was 163 in 2006, 108 in 2008 and 115 in 2009.
Blueline buses were introduced in Delhi in 1992, ending the monopoly of the state-owned DTC buses.
