Passengers have to resort to illegal bus stops on Yamuna Expressway.
Jagran correspondent, Jewar. According to the rules, bus stands cannot be built on expressways, but passengers can be picked up and dropped off at illegal bus stops. This is the story of the 165 km long Yamuna Expressway from Greater Noida to Agra. No bus stand has been made for passengers on Yamuna Expressway from Greater Noida to Agra.
However, government and private buses plying on the expressway pick up and drop passengers at these illegal stops. These illegal bus stops are mostly built on underpasses of main roads, where women, elderly and children face difficulty in getting on and off.
Despite there being no bus stand on the Yamuna Expressway, the Transport Corporation buses have fixed fares for all places from Greater Noida to Jewar, Tappal, Bajna, Vrindavan, Mathura and Agra, and bus tickets are also issued regularly. But for those traveling by bus, traveling on Yamuna Expressway is no less than a nightmare. Most of the illegal bus stops are built on underpasses of main roads that pass under the Yamuna Expressway.
Private and roadways (government) bus drivers pick up and drop passengers at these places. Every day thousands of passengers travel on Yamuna Expressway, but neither the Expressway Authority nor the Transport Corporation is providing any facilities for them. Commuters often fall and get injured while climbing up and down the unpaved paths leading to the underpass.
Due to injuries to passengers while climbing up and down the underpass, social and farmer organizations have been demanding construction of stairs for ten years, but the authorities refuse citing rules.
I have been a daily wage laborer in Delhi for ten years, and stairs are a must for climbing up and down the expressway. According to expressway rules, if bus stands cannot be built on expressways, then why do roadways buses carry passengers? If rules do not come in the way of illegal bus stops, then why do they come in the way of building stairs for passengers?
It is not easy for women, elderly and children to catch a bus from Khurja underpass. Here, accidents often happen while boarding and deboarding the bus, and this problem increases further during the rainy season. Either the bus stop should be removed, or it is very important to build stairs.