NEWSLINKS US EDITION COLUMNISTS DIARY SPECIALS INTERVIEWS CAPITAL BUZZ REDIFF POLL THE STATES ELECTIONS ARCHIVES SEARCH REDIFF
Patience is running out in Delhi, following a shortage of buses after a Supreme Court order permitting only CNG vehicles on the capital's roads.
Mobs torched six buses belonging to the Delhi Transport Corporation in Badarpur, South Delhi, and broke window panes of several buses in the West Delhi's Brittania Chowk.
The police had not made any arrests till noon.
Tuesday morning saw office-goers and students waiting in desperation for the few buses available out of the 12,000-strong fleet Delhi has. Similarly, only a fraction of the 55,000 autorickshaws was on the roads.
Chandreshwar Singh, a resident of Najafgarh, who works for a private company, had to reach office at Vasant Vihar, 25 km from Najafgarh early morning. But there were no buses.
He said: ''As I had the keys to my office, I had to be there first. So, I travelled atop a Delhi Water Board water tanker.''
Delhi's buses have been cruel to school children, killing many in as spate of accidents. And today, after waiting for a bus for hours, the children at a grave risk to their safety, had to compete with the maddening crowd of adults, to find a place in jam-packed buses or hang on footboards.
Those who could afford autorickshaws or cars did not have to bother.
But children, dependent on public transport, had two options: risk their lives or skip school.
Anuj Verma, 13, waited at a South Delhi bus-stop for around an hour, but no bus came. He said: "If a bus does not come quickly, my teacher will punish me for being late."
Women were also at the receiving end.
Pallavi Mahajan, an MCA student, said: "It has always been a problem travelling in crowded Delhi buses. But now it is frightening. I cannot even think of getting into a bus full of more than 100 people piling over each other."
She preferred taking an autorickshaw.
But a working woman from Munirka, South Delhi, said: "Getting into a bus today means throwing oneself to vultures."
''I was a fool to do so in the morning, on my way to my office.''
In this hour of crisis, Delhi should have stood together. Instead of being kind, the darker side of Delhi is feasting on the weak and helpless.
You may also want to seeGovt firm on CNG: Mahajan
Back to top
Tell us what you think of this report
