By IANS
New Delhi : The Delhi High Court Monday asked the Delhi government to prepare within four weeks a detailed plan to phase out the “killer” Blueline bus fleet that has claimed 94 lives this year including seven Sunday.
“Earlier, the court had given the government time till Dec 15. But after the Sunday accident, it has directed (the government) to submit a detailed phase-out plan for Blueline buses within four weeks,” said Anup Bhambani, amicus curiae appointed by the court.
“The court, however, has given clear instructions that the phase-out should not affect commuters. For every cancellation of Blueline bus permit, there should be a replacement,” Bhambani told reporters.
The court order came a day after a recklessly driven Blueline bus ran over seven people, including a four-year-old boy, in the worst such incident blamed on the privately-run fleet whose hunger for profits has left the national capital shaken.
The court also asked the Delhi government to furnish details of Blueline buses owned and operated by legislators and parliamentarians.
“Earlier it had asked the government to furnish details of buses owned by police officers,” Bhambani said.
The court had also suggested that owners of killer buses too should be punished.
“Just cancelling the licences of drivers will not be enough. The bus involved in fatal accidents should be impounded and sent to the workshop. And buses should not be released without a court order,” he said.
Summoning the government and the bus operators for an urgent hearing, a bench of justices Mukul Mudgal and Reva Khetrapal termed the growing incidents of fatal accidents involving Bluelines as “shocking”.
“It’s becoming shocking day by day and cannot get worse than this,” the bench said.
The court has fixed the next hearing of the case Thursday.
Seven people – five women, an infant and a man – were crushed and eight injured when a speeding Blueline bus ran over them in south Delhi’s Badarpur area while trying to overtake a stationary bus from the wrong side.
Since January, Blueline buses have snuffed out 94 lives and injured over 160 others. The capital has over 4,000 Blueline buses, which form a crucial part of the city’s mismanaged public transport system.