Continuing with yesterday’s letter of Ajay Kumar on the problems faced by the commuters while travelling through Badarpur border as well as inability of traffic cops disciplining blueline buses on roads, he further writes, “How the bus stops locations are chosen defies all logic. You have a busy intersection, which one crosses with great difficult testing all limits of patience, and you have a bus stop immediately after that. So you have to stop in face of all the buses jostling there for passengers and so the smooth flow of traffic is blocked. This is not just the situation at Badarpur, but look anywhere around the city, that is same pattern followed for Bus Stop locations.

“Also, there has been a significant increase of the container trucks in the traffic these days. To experience these giant machines, just try to drive on Mehrauli-Badarpur road. A section of the road right from Surajkund crossing near Indian Oil petrol Pump till the Lal Kuan traffic light (towards Okhla Industrial estate) seems to have been reserved for these container trucks to park (two side lanes on each side reserved, leaving just one lane for the traffic to move on). And since these trucks are increasing in number by the day, one day, I can foresee that the entire Mehrauli Badarpur road stretch could be lined up with these trucks. We could probably use these parked trucks then to take pictures of the Tughlakabad fort without having the need to climb the fort to experience the historical beauty. Some of the empty spaces next to the Tuglakabad fort have already been reserved for these containers.

“I am wondering if anything could be done in this regard to elevate the sufferings of the hapless commuters like me who endure these scenes on a daily basis. On a normal day, one spends at least 20 minutes to half an hour just to cross the Badarpur stretch, but on a rainy day the wait becomes endless, touching even two hours.”

Well, if you ask the traffic cops, even they ask the same question regarding positioning of bus stops. Here the small-time politicians, blueline buses, restless commuters, etc. have a major role to play regarding the selection of bus stops. None asks the traffic cops where to make a bus shelter. And regarding the container depot and trailers parked on the road, I think the cops should take the matter seriously. By simply prosecuting such trailers by issuing challans won’t solve this problem. Few drastic steps need to be taken by the cops so as to discourage the trailers from parking there.