Bloody blue and bloody red

In this impersonal capital, accidents are not always the bus driver's fault. Swanky cars and SUVs don't follow much of road discipline either

Akash Bisht Delhi

Delhi traffic is a complex twilight zone. That it often turns into a daily death zone has more colours than just blue. Almost everyone on the roads is violating rules and driving ethics: especially the big bully cars and swanky SUVs, and not only those with Haryana and UP nameplates. No one cares for the other driver or cyclist or pedestrian. Everyone is eternally angry and forever abusing. Road rage is a continuous state of mind. In that sense the roads of Delhi and the traffic is a reflection of the inner essence of the city: “If I am wrong, you are to be blamed; If you cheat me, I will cheat someone else; If you hit me, I will hit someone else: If you abuse me, I will abuse someone else on the street.”

As for women, in a city which belongs to no one because there is no 'belonging' to the city or its own language, unlike Mumbai or Kolkata, all women are potential victims. Inside the car or on the footboard of a bus, as the driver breaks suddenly so that she can fall. All women must be overtaken, they can't be given space to move, and they must be put in their place. And pedestrians and cyclists, with all their faults, they can go to hell. In other words, they must die, if they have to, crushed or otherwise, in a city which indulges the rich and condemns the poor.

Dinesh Mohan, an authority on transportation safety, has argued that the numbers of accidents in Delhi are high because the roads are made keeping vehicles in mind and not cyclists and pedestrians. He stressed that Blueline buses were not completely at fault for the growing number of accidents as they have been ordered to ply on the left side of the road. That leaves no place for bicyclists or pedestrians. Most buses rush to the left lane only when they see traffic police personnel and to avoid being fined or booked.

The Environment Pollution (Prevention & Control) Authority for the National Capital Region in one of its reports emphasised that the increase in number of personal vehicles is alarming. The city already has more than four million registered vehicles. In 2006, the city added nearly 0.36 million vehicles. That is, it is adding nearly 100 vehicles each day. The bulk of these vehicles are private - 963 new personal vehicles are added in the city each day, mainly cars. Cars have recorded decennial growth rate of 92 per cent — highest among all categories of vehicles (1995-96 - 2005-06). The Central Road Research Institute highlighted that Delhi has an estimated population of 9,21,000 registered motor cars, 2,231,000 two-wheelers and 41,000 buses.

The situation is likely to worsen due to increasing population and economic growth. The population of Delhi is expected to grow from 138 lakh in 2001 to 230 lakh by 2021. However, the daily transport demand is expected to grow from 139 lakh in 2001 to 279 lakh passenger trips by the year 2021. To cater to this demand, the mass transport system will need to be augmented substantially and the road infrastructure, traffic management and associated amenities have to be improved.

“People in Delhi have no traffic sense and this can be seen everyday on Delhi streets. There are subways and overbridges but no one uses them, there are zebra crossings but people never use them. People cross busy roads just by raising their hand and signalling 'halt'. We try our best to tell people to follow traffic rules but no one listens. We are here to manage traffic, not to teach people,” complains Qamar Ahmed, joint commissioner, Traffic Police. “The existing pace at which the numbers of vehicles are rising is a cause for concern but we have had such situations before and have handled it with precision. With 600-700 new vehicles on the road everyday, we need more staff to be prepared to handle it; but the last time we had new recruitments was in 1999,” rues Ahmed.

According to experts, accidents in Delhi will come down provided there is more mobile patrolling on roads and large number of police personnel are pressed into service to check red-light jumping, vehicles exceeding speed limit, rash and drunken driving. But with lack of manpower, and obvious inefficiency and corruption within the traffic police, this task seems a little daunting.

The growing numbers of flyovers are also an area of concern for pedestrians and cyclists. Due to the massive inflow of vehicles the flyovers are ending into traffic bottlenecks — which defeat the very purpose of building a flyover. There are numerous bus stops at the end of these flyovers and buses come speeding towards them. “When I am cycling on the road I constantly fear for my life as there is no place for us to go. Left side has speeding buses and autos and it is extremely difficult to ride on these roads and after most flyovers there is a bus stop. Many accidents happen there and mainly it's the cyclists and pedestrians that are killed. Cyclists like me are too afraid to go out on cycles but we don't have any option as we can't afford the bus fare everyday. 'Sarkar' should think about us too,” complains Khushi Ram, a daily wage labourer from Khanpur.

Dinesh Mohan has also often criticised the free left turns and points out that all world-class cities have banned free left turns as pedestrians do not feel safe while crossing roads at such points. However, traffic police in Delhi has been insisting on free left turns as they want the cars to move fast and don't care about pedestrians.

However, the new High Capacity Bus Corridor (HCBS) offers a glimmer a hope as they have a separate lane for pedestrians and cyclists and can also be a solution to the immensely growing vehicular population in Delhi. “Delhi Metro has also helped in decongesting traffic and if the pace at which it is growing continues then we might have an alternative to cars and buses in future. But at present the situation looks grim,” informs Ahmed.

Hence, to avoid accidents in Delhi, it's not only the killer bluelines with rash, rowdy, untrained and drunken drivers patronised by this or that mafia, that need to be phased out to curb the number of accidents. The government has to come out with a sound traffic policy that cares not only for motorists but most importantly for the cyclists and pedestrians. Besides, this city must learn to respect people on the streets and observe certain road and driving ethics. Road rage or killer buses or unruly SUVs must learn the language of safe driving and decency. And, in a city where name-dropping is a trick to get things done or violate the law, the police must have the guts to chargesheet the rich and powerful inside big cars also, and not only bikers and scooterists.

DTC in Dock

One reason for the high rate of accidents involving public buses in Delhi is the shortage of skilled drivers. Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) officials admit that little has been done to overcome this crisis. DTC runs a fleet of 3,100 buses, but officials admit that on an average, just 2,700 buses or even less are on the roads.

DTC has advertised for 2,485 vacancies of drivers in January this year. The Delhi Subordinate Services Selection Board (DSSSB) was able to hire only 261 drivers. The selection criteria set by DSSSB for hiring drivers were: an intermediate certificate with five years of driving experience and a badge to run heavy motors in Delhi. This, however, has now been lowered to a matriculation certificate with three years of driving experience and a valid licence for any state. Satbir Singh, convenor of the Delhi Transport Labour Union, blamed the government for trying to privatise DTC and playing in the hands of corporates and local lobbies with political clout. Singh said, “The socio-economic condition of DTC staff is in tatters. They are not only poorly paid but are also subjected to public wrath and social stigma attached to the job.” Says Vedpal Singh, who was hired as a conductor in 1982, “For how long will 550 conductors, working on a temporary basis with a meagre salary of Rs 80.40 per day, have to wait to get permanent status?”

Contractual drivers are hired for 89 days for a remuneration of Rs 1.50/km. Drivers complain that they can't take leave for a single day because this would mean extra pressure on other drivers and difficulty for the commuters. They are no social safety networks, no decent rest rooms, no medical or eye-tests, and often, no future insurance. If the private contractors are raking in money by pushing the blueline buses to the brink, even at the cost of killing people almost everyday, the public sector DTC is languishing in absolute disregard, sick and ailing.

Himanshu Joshi