Editorial
Drive against old vehicles gone awry?
Visible public suffering need relief
WE have been supportive of the move against road-unworthy vehicles with the caveat that it be effective following alternative arrangements for public transport being put in place. For, unless the void created by the exit of old transports is filled, people's hardship can only mount. Indeed, the sudden disappearance of such buses has created an unbearable situation for the commuters -- they are left with virtually no mode of transport in the streets they can avail of.
Such a step should have been taken in a planned way to avoid disruptions. Statistics show that out of roughly 6,000 buses and minibuses operating in the city, almost 4,000 are at least 20 years old. Obviously, we cannot allow buses in such a very poor condition to run in the city. These buses are responsible for accidents, traffic jam and pollution. Most of these vehicles offer highly unsatisfactory services and seldom show any regard for traffic rules. Overloading is a regular feature and untrained drivers who put the lives of both the passengers and pedestrians in danger often run these buses. But the question is 75 lakh people happen to depend on the bus service to commute? This is an aspect of the overall situation that does not seem to have figured prominently in the decision-makers' thoughts when they opted for banishing the rundown transports.
Let us not forget that all such drives against worn-out vehicles failed in the past because the authorities concerned had no idea or plan to face the situation that would arise when the old vehicles will have been ordered out of operation. The problem that invariably cropped up in such situation far outweighed the anxiety of bringing back traffic discipline. The old vehicles were soon back to the streets to cater to the huge number of commuters. The abortive attempts to banish the vehicles did more harm than good to the cause of efficient traffic management.
The BRTC has a plan to import 950 buses but the plan is unlikely to materialise in the next six months. So, here we are resigned to the fate of old vehicles evading action and reappearing on the sly.
The right way to go about it would have been, as we have suggested beforehand, to phase out the old buses according to their vintage -- the most old going first and then the rest in a gradualist time-bound order which itself providing a leeway for importing new transports and putting them on the road.
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