New Delhi: The Delhi Government on Monday decided
to approach the Supreme Court for cancellation of the permit
of remaining 300 Blueline buses which are still plying on
various city routes.
The decision to approach the apex court came a day after a
speeding Blueline bus killed a person and mowed down 11 others
near the ISBT Kashmere Gate.
"We are determined to remove all the Blueline buses from
the city at the earliest. We will now approach the Supreme
Court to cancel the permits of the remaining Blueline buses as
their permits will expire in 2012 only," Transport Minister
Arvinder Singh Lovely said.
Under a phase-out plan, nearly 1,900 Blueline buses, which
had gained notoriety in the city over their involvement in
frequent mishaps, have been taken off roads by the Delhi
government.
But around 300 buses were allowed to run after they moved
the court arguing that their permits will expire in middle of
next year.
The Delhi government has been trying to modernise the
entire public transport system in the city and has procured
around 4,000 swanky low-floor buses, including air-conditioned
and non-air conditioned vehicles.
To replace the Blueline fleet, the government had last
year announced an ambitious cluster bus service scheme under
which corporate entities were proposed to be given certain
routes in the city on the pattern of cities like Paris and
London. The first cluster bus service was launched in the city
last week.
Delhi government had in 2009 divided nearly 650 bus routes
across the city into 17 clusters, each comprising profitable
and non-profitable routes and decided to give each cluster to
a private operator.
PTI
