By IANS
New Delhi : The Delhi government Friday cancelled the permits of 600 Blueline buses, often dubbed 'killer buses' due to the frequent fatal accidents they are involved in, and said these private buses would be phased out from the capital city.
"It has been decided to immediately cancel 600 permits of Blueline buses due to violation of permit rules including non-operation. We are committed to phase out Blueline buses in the near future," Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said.
"The government has decided to take certain short-term and long-term measures to gradually phase out Blueline buses, increase the fleet of DTC (Delhi Transport Corporation) buses, coporatise and co-operatise plying of private buses in Delhi and strict and stringent enforcement of rules," she added.
She said the state government would increase the DTC fleet from 3,500 to 5,000 in the span of one year.
Expressing concern over rash driving by Blueline buses, she said the government would not remain a mute spectator over frequent traffic violations by the bus owners and drivers.
"The government would change the scenario of the city buses in coming years as it is committed to provide a safe, convenient and modern city transport bus system in the capital," she said while chairing a high level meeting on Blueline buses.
Transport Minister Haroon Yusuf said that stringent enforcement measures would be taken against errant drivers.
"The drivers would be asked to prominently display their photo and license in buses, their driving licenses would be punched when they violate rules and they would not be allowed to drive double shifts," he said.
The minister said a mechanism would be evolved to restrict the working hours of a driver to the permissible limit to avoid accidents due to fatigue.
"The DTC has also been instructed to expedite recruitment of drivers so that adequate number of trained drivers are available for new buses," he informed.
The meeting comes in the wake of public anger over the death of an 11-year-old school boy after he was hit by a Blueline bus on Sunday.