2,766 Delhi bus stands to get a facelift

NEW DELHI: The Transport department of the Delhi government has decided to beautify as many as 2,766 bus stands in the national Capital.

In a meeting with officials of the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) and the Transport department, Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot announced the decision.

At the meeting, officials conveyed to Gahlot that due to the poor condition of bus stands, the people of Delhi face several troubles every day, which become worse during monsoon.

Sources said that the officials raised the point that despite several requests to the Transport department, the government had not taken any initiative to repair these spots.

Subsequently, the Minister instructed officials of his Department that encroachments around bus stands should be cleared on a priority basis.

Gahlot added that to ensure road safety, it is important to make that bus stands are free of encroachments, so that people can stand without any trouble.

The Minister further said that a majority of road accidents occur because of people being forced to stand or walk in the middle of roads.

The Department, in consultation with relevant regional transport officers, will work to overcome the problem of encroachment.

The Minister instructed that in front of every bus stand should be a box drawn with chalk, where the drivers will need to stop the bus.

This will make it easy for commuters to board the buses, and they will be asked not to cross the box.

DTC said it has instructed its bus drivers to follow the benchmarks on the roads and not to stop at any place other than the bus stands.

Gahlot directed officials that buses and the stands should not obstruct the traffic on the street.

The Delhi government has nearly 4,627 bus stands all over the city. Most of these stands in the outskirts are made of stainless steel boxes.

The Department will rebuild all these stands and make them like shelters. The tender for this project is likely to come early next week.

Previously, the Minister had also initiated beautification of several bus depots across the national Capital.