Blueline killer run continues

NEW DELHI: The Delhi government’s repeated efforts to tame the killer run of the blueline buses in the city seem to have no deterring effect on the number of accidents.

Late on Thursday, a cyclist was crushed to death while a pedestrian was critically injured when a blueline rammed into them in the Rohini area of North West Delhi. The toll of those killed in blueline accidents now stands at a staggering 99 in about 10 months.

The injured, still unidentified, was admitted to the Sanjay Gandhi Hospital, where his condition was stated to be critical. The accident immediately triggered mob fury. The infuriated mob torched the bus, gutting it down completely. The police had to resort to lathi charge to disperse the protesters. Even on Friday morning, some policemen described the situation in the area as “tense and sensitive”.

According to the police, the driver of the bus tried to flee after the accident, but the irate mob caught him, beat him up and handed him to the police.  Several passengers of the “killer bus” who were stranded at the scene of the accident said that the bus driver was overtaking other vehicles in a dangerous manner despite some of them objecting to it. The police have registered a case of rash and negligent diving.

Transport minister Haroon Yusuf had earlier expressed that blueline drivers responsible for accidents should be prosecuted for murder. However, all efforts of the government to reign in the killer buses have failed so far. Yusuf too admits that though the blueline menace had indeed assumed “very serious proportions”, an early solution to the problem was not certain.

The government is now pinning all its hopes on acquiring a new fleet of state-run buses so that blueline buses could be phased out.