By IANS,
New Delhi: People in the capital faced a tough time commuting to and from central and south Delhi Sunday as 1,600 Blueline buses went off the roads.
The Delhi government had decided to take the Blueline buses off from routes near the Commonwealth Games venues and the Games Village from Sunday till Oct 16.
The officials said these would be replaced with equal number of Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) buses.
The withdrawal of Blueline buses affected some of the most busy routes, including New Delhi Railway Station-Vasant Kunj, Shivaji Stadium-Hauz Khas, Ambedkar Nagar-Central Secretariat, Mehrauli-Anand Vihar, Greater Kailash-New Delhi Railway Station, Badarpur Border-Minto Road, Kapashera Border-Mori Gate and Saket-Old Delhi Station.
“I have been waiting for the bus from the last 30 minutes and finally took an autorickshaw. The frequency of buses is poor and I am really worried what will happen during peak hours Monday,” said Smriti Gupta, who lives near the Talkatora Stadium.
The Delhi government has inducted 6,500 DTC buses in the runup to the Games. Of these, 1,400 would cater to athletes, delegates and security personnel during the Oct 3-14 event. Another 1,200 buses will ply on special routes while 10 percent will be kept on
stand-by.
However, the Delhi government is confident that people will have no trouble in commuting in the capital during the Games.
“DTC never had so many buses in its fleet. The convenience of the public is our top priority,” Delhi Transport Minister Arvinder Singh Lovely said.