Action against move by bus operators to inconvenience public: CM

New Delhi, Oct 15 (UNI) In a veiled warning to Bluelines operators staying off the roads in protest against the ongoing police drive against them, the Delhi Government today said it would take strict action against any move by the operators to ''inconvenience'' the public.

''We have said time and again that strict action will be taken against any move by bus operators to inconvenience the common man,''Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit told reporters after a Cabinet meeting at the Delhi secretariat.

Expressing hipe that the ongoing crisis would soon be resolved with the Cabinet today deciding to procure 4500 buses so as to achieve the target of 6000 DTC buses by March 31, 2009, the Chief Minister, at the same time, said strict action would be taken against those exploiting the situation.

''We have all along been asking bus operators to adhere to the requisite norms like driving in their respective lanes, running buses on the prescribed routes and displaing their licenses and permits prominently. I wish to reiterate that,''Ms Dikshit said.

The statement by the Chief Minister came even as a large number of blueline buses today stayed away from the roads in protest against the ongoing drive by the police and the Delhi Government against them ever since last Sunday's horrific accident wherein a Blueline bus ran over 17 bystanders near Badarpur, killing eight and injuring nine others.

The absence of the buses is causing severe inconvenience to the public with commuters in several areas of East Delhi and West Delhi having to wait for long hours to get buses to their offices. Of the few buses on the roads, a majority were overcrowded.

UNI