One more reason to opt for Delhi Metro

Waiting time for buses at bus stops in West Delhi is not just long and tiring, but it could be a life threatening experience also. No one knows when the rusted bus stop will come crashing down
be crowded, jam packed and claustrophobic during the peak hours but it is still bearable as compared to the long waiting hours under a dilapidated bus stop, which no one knows when will come crashing down on the waiting passengers. That’s what exactly happened recently with passengers waiting for a bus at Kirbi Place Metro Station.While several parts of South and Lutyens’ Delhi have already donned a new look, with swank new, user-friendly bus queue shelters. But West Delhi is still deprived of this modernisation drive. This grim scenario in West Delhi prevails at a time when DTC is planning modernisation of over 1,000 bus queue shelters across the Capital ahead of the Commonwealth Games in 2010. On the entire stretch of Ring Road in West Delhi from Brittania Chowk to Delhi Cantt, almost all the bus stops have been lying in a dilapidated state. With missing roof, damaged platforms and no place to sit, these rusted structures are hardly of any use to the commuters. Says Alok Shankar, a regular commuter, who boards bus from Punjabi Bagh, Rohtak Road, Bus Stop, "There is no proper place to sit here. This bus stop is in a dilapidated state and can fall any day. Passengers here avoid standing below theis old structure. It has been lying in this state for so many years." Strangely, since the beginning of 2008, DTC has been ’working’ on an ambitious plan to develop around 1,000 new BQS in a phased manner. "While 248 bus shelters are part of Phase I, 400 each are part of the Phase II and Phase III of the project," said a senior official from Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC). However, how many of them will finally make their presence on West Delhi roads, only time will tell.