The Blueline Menace

Asking the Delhi CM to resign over her transport minister's inability to solve the Blueline issue is no solution, and the BJP should know that. Many solutions have been tried so far--the latest, which kept the Bluelines off the city roads for many days, was to look for non-existent speed governors on buses.

However, we all know the reason why the Blueline menace continues to haunt Delhi commuters--the state government and state transport officials have no properly defined policy to select suitable Blueline operators. Anyone who owns at least five buses and is willing to grease palms can apply to run a Blueline fleet. These people are unable to train their drivers or conductors, maintain the buses in good condition or run the buses on the busiest routes. You often see people hanging out of the doors of Blueline buses, or hanging on by their fingertips as they ride on the back (literally!) of the bus.

In case the Delhi government fails to check its officials from taking bribes when issuing surface transport contracts, the people of Delhi will have no other option but to take the case to the courts and demand that only reputed companies with a service-oriented outlook be given contracts to run Blueline buses. They should also demand compensation for the loss of loved ones, not just from operators of Blueline fleets but from the Delhi state government, to punish it for running such a poor surface transport service.