Tens of thousands of people were left stranded and sweating at bus stops in the Indian capital Thursday amid a local government crackdown on private commuter buses blamed for dozens of deaths.
Officials said at least 600 private bus licenses have been suspended following a crash 10 days ago triggered by a speeding Blueline bus, as the private service is called, that killed an 11-year-old boy and injured 14 others.
Late on Wednesday and early on Thursday, large numbers of passengers could be seen stuck at dozens of bus stops in different parts of New Delhi, a city of 14 million people served by a mixture of around 8,000 public and private buses. Passengers had to cling to packed bus doors, some falling and injuring themselves, as only about half the usual number of buses were on the road.
Other commuters said they had walked for hours in temperatures of around 35 degrees Celsius (nearly 100 degrees Fahrenheit) and in suffocating humidity. An estimated 11 million people travel by bus every day in New Delhi. Critics say that the system is overstretched, and that drivers rush to complete routes at breakneck speed to boost revenues.
Even after the crackdown, two more children died over the weekend in private bus accidents, including one who was crushed under the vehicle after the driver sped up while the 11-year-old was alighting, news reports said. A total of 1,910 people died and 7,970 more were injured in 8,838 accidents on New Delhi streets last year, traffic police have said. The Delhi-based Institute of Road Traffic Education of India says the country accounts for nearly 10 percent of all fatal accidents world-wide.