Daily bus breakdowns throw traffic out of gear in Delhi. Now, a solution may be in sight

At 11.01 am, a similar post was shared of a bus breaking down at Sarita Vihar flyover loop. At 10.51 am was yet another post of a bus breakdown — this time, near Dwarka Mor Metro Station.

These were among 23 breakdowns that disrupted traffic since last Friday, going by the Traffic Police’s social media posts.

To improve response time to bus breakdowns, the Traffic Police and the Delhi Transport Department have now created a common WhatsApp group to share live updates, police sources said.

The move is significant, going by the number of DTC bus breakdowns that happen on Delhi roads daily. According to Delhi Traffic Police’s X handle, eight breakdowns disrupted traffic just on Monday. Four were reported on Tuesday.
Additional CP (Traffic) Dinesh Kumar said, “The group comprises the Transport Department Commissioner, Delhi Traffic ACPs, and all other senior officials from the two units. It has been made to increase coordination between the Transport Department and Traffic Police to improve response time.”

He said response time to breakdowns has increased by over 50% since the group was created and other changes were introduced: “Earlier, if a bus (plying on the) Najafgarh route breaks down in any area in Delhi, then a tow truck only from the Najafgarh depot could be called in for help. Now, with live updates being shared on the group, the nearest depot responds to a bus breakdown — no matter what the route number is.”

According to the Delhi Transport Corporation, another step taken by it is specialised training of bus drivers in moving the vehicle to the side. “Earlier, when a bus broke down, the driver had to wait for a recovery van to even slightly move the vehicle to the side. Now, we have provided them with training in using hydraulic pressure systems to move the buses to the side using appropriate tools. Not all drivers have been trained yet, but soon they will be,” said MD (DTC) Shilpa Shinde.

MD Shinde also said the twin moves of coordination between Traffic Police and DTC, along with driver training, has eased the burden on police personnel, who earlier used to be solely responsible for informing about breakdowns and then managing resultant traffic as well.

According to police sources, the group was formed 20 days ago after a meeting chaired by the L-G between the Traffic and Transport Department officials. During this, it was recommended to make a WhatsApp group to improve coordination between both departments and to avoid congestion on roads due to public transport breakdowns.

Officials say more steps are being considered to ensure a smooth flow of traffic despite breakdowns of government vehicles and improve coordination between the units. “We have requested the Transport Department to permanently deploy personnel and tow trucks on VIP routes in Delhi so VIP cavalry isn’t stranded for long hours due to breakdowns. In any case, routes are blocked for public use during VVIP movement. A case of breakdown may make that blockade longer,” a traffic police officer said.