Haryana buses refuse to enter Delhi,commuters deboard 34 km away

The protest was staged against the alleged ‘high handedness’ and ‘improper issuance of challans’ by the Delhi Police to Haryana transport buses. The stir put commuters through significant amount of trouble,which also entailed them having to spend extra on travel. Most of the commuters were unaware of the shortened route of the bus,as no notices put up at the boarding point or at the ticket window. The commuters were seemingly furious about the fact that they were not informed about the protest in advance.

Rajesh Pant,who was travelling to Delhi said,“I came to know about this protest at the eleventh hour,had I known about this earlier,I would have opted for an alternate mode”. Another commuter Pulkit Jain said,“We are paying the full fare and are forced to get off before the destination. The Haryana Transport should refund our fare. The government should not back such protests that cause inconvenience to commuters”.

The transport authority had a different take. Rajkumar,ISBT-17 Duty Officer of Haryana Transport said,“The news about the protest was carried in newspapers on Saturday. We hope that the commuters are aware of it”.

When inquired about whether any steps were taken by the transport department to inform the passenger at the boarding point,he said,“We are informing people,who are inquiring about it”. He also said that the passengers deboarding at Kundli would have to a take a written statement from the drivers that they would be refunded by the department.

Buses coming from Delhi to Chandigarh were plying from Kashmere Gate ISBT. “There is no hindrance for buses coming from Delhi,” said a Haryana transport department official. The protest led to mere diminution in the number of commuters on Saturday.