Traffic continues to crawl along BRT

  • 01/05/2008

  • Indian Express (New Delhi)

A day after its first accident, life returned to normal on the BRT corridor today. Cars waited in long queues; people waited at intersections, to cross over and board the buses plying along the central verge; traffic marshals directed different vehicles to their demarcated lanes; and all officials were busy controlling the chaotic traffic. But memories of yesterday's incident are still fresh in the minds of residents of neighbouring localities. Madan Nand Joshi, a resident of Pushp Vihar, present at the time of the accident, said: "We heard someone screaming for help as my block is just next to the corridor. When we rushed to the road, we saw the railing had damaged one side of the bus. A few of the passengers were injured. The police and other officials were controlling the crowd. The injured were being taken in an ambulance to the hospital but due to the heavy traffic, they too were stuck.' The corridor, which gives priority to pedestrians and bus commuters, is used by commuters but not without some problems. Shruti Desai, a resident of Madangiri, said: "I use the corridor every day. The bus service has helped a lot with its frequent service. But it's really difficult to cross the road, especially with my 6-year-old son. With constant moving traffic, my suggestion is that we need foot-over bridges or subways for crossing. Only then can we avoid accidents on the corridor.' One of the injured from yesterday's accident, Rahul Kashyap, admitted in the AIIMS Trauma Centre, said: "My left leg is badly injured. The bus driver was speeding and couldn't control the vehicle. It was also overcrowded. The safety of passengers should be the first priority.' Talking about safety precautions, Delhi Transport Commissioner R K Verma said: "The public has to follow traffic rules. It's very difficult to stop each and every violation. We are installing railings throughout the corridor and are constantly monitoring the speed of vehicles. In addition to the 24-hour crane service, we have already requested for an ambulance service on the corridor. We are also monitoring the traffic with officials deployed at all intersections.' On educating people about road safety and rules, Verma said: "We are creating awareness about