Noida commuters have no relief

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, JULY 10. It was another chaotic day for commuters between Delhi and Noida with private bus operators reluctant to operate their buses on local routes of this satellite township; fearing impounding of their vehicles.

The situation worsened further as the charted buses plying between Delhi and Noida also went on strike protesting against the imposition of a monthly tax of Rs 10.000, leaving hundreds of commuters stranded.

However, senior Government officials claimed that the situation was likely to return to normalcy on Tuesday and buses started plying late in the evening after the Uttar Pradesh Road Transport authorities released a score of impounded private buses.

``All the five KM Scheme buses under the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) impounded by the U.P. officials were released this afternoon, following which buses started plying,'' said the DTC Chairman, Mr. Rakesh Mehta. The impounded Blueline buses were also released.

The U.P. Government had impounded these buses and demanded Rs. 15,000 as tax, saying these buses were being treated as inter- State buses. ``After a lot of discussion, they finally accepted our argument that no taxes would be imposed on them and they would be considered as extension of the city service,'' a senior Government official said.

According to him, as the impounded buses could not be released till noon, a large number of private bus operators refused to resume their services to Noida and go beyond the Chilla village in Mayur Vihar Phase-I Extension. ``This caused a lot of hardship to thousands of commuters," the official said, hoping that things would improve on Tuesday as the issue had been resolved.

In a late evening statement, the Delhi Transport Minister, Mr. Parvez Hashmi, announced that the Government had decided not to suspend the bus service from Delhi to Noida under the KM Scheme and those under the State Transport Authority. ``They will continue to ply as before,'' he said.

A decision to this effect, he said, had been taken at a high- level meeting between the transport officials of Delhi and U.P. The U.P. officials have decided to release Delhi buses without any fine. ``An agreement is likely to be arrived at towards the end of this month to find a permanent solution," he said.

But for a greater part of the day, commuters had to fend for themselves on the stretch between Chilla and the Delhi-Noida border with the Samachar Apartments crossing near Chilla acting as terminus of sorts. Most schools in Noida had informed parents about the problem. As a result, attendance was not affected with parents making alternate arrangements.

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