Lane driving sane driving– over 44,000 challans issued under bus lane enforcement drive in Delhi

New Delhi: The Delhi government's Transport department has issued over 44,000 challans under its bus lane enforcement drive that kicked off on April 1, an official statement said on Wednesday.

Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot inspected bus lanes and Bus Queue Shelters(BQS) on the ITO-Kashmere Gate stretch covering Delhi Gate, Lal Qila and Daryaganj road, it said.

The minister directed Delhi Transport Infrastructure Development Corporation (DTIDC) officials to ensure regular maintenance and repair of all such shelters across Delhi for maximum passenger convenience and also asked them to ensure adequate space for bus passage near the bus stop, the statement said.

The Delhi Transport department started the lane enforcement drive on April 1 this year to ensure bus lane enforcement across the capital.

As on July 4, a total of 44,594 challans had been issued under the bus lane enforcement drive. These include 1,591 challans issued to bus drivers for lane violations and 43,003 challans issued to private vehicle owners for parking in bus lanes, the statement said.

A total of 526 vehicles have also been towed away for improper parking in bus lanes, it added.

During the inspection, Gahlot directed officials to clear bus lanes of illegally parked private vehicles to ensure seamless traffic movement.

He directed DTIDC officials to ensure regular maintenance and repair of all bus queue shelters across Delhi for maximum passenger convenience and asked them to ensure adequate space for bus passage near the bus stop. This may require that the bus stop be located close to the road.

DTIDC builds, manages and maintains all major BQS in Delhi except those under the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) areas.

"Thirty-five lakh people in Delhi use buses daily to travel and with our dedicated bus lanes in the city, we are ensuring they have safe travel," minister said.

"We are also focusing on making our bus stops convenient with bus queue shelters ensuring easy movement of buses and safe pick up and drop of passengers," the statement quoting Gahlot said.