New Delhi: “Usually, by 1 or 2 pm every day, three or four buses are here. Today, there’s just one,” Ankit, who runs a paan shop beside an office of Raj Kalpana Travels Pvt Ltd near Akshardham, said.
It remained shut Friday, despite normally opening by 9 am.
“Maybe, because of the incident,” Ankit said, when asked why the stretch in front of the office of the travel company appeared quieter than usual. Locals said the staff had hurriedly closed the office Thursday night and left. Suraj, another local shopkeeper, said, “I got to know about the incident from television news. I think it will be the same situation for the next few days as well,” he said. Images and videos of the charred bus were circulating among their WhatsApp groups, they said. Sunil, who works at a nearby office of a travel company, said, “Our drivers have plenty of videos of the bus on fire. Naveed, a local shopkeeper, said he expected bus operations to remain subdued for some time. TOI dialled Raj Kalpana’s helpline and was told by sources that bus services on some routes, including those to Mahoba and Chhatarpur, had been halted, while other services were continuing. They said fire-safety checks on buses are usually undertaken, though a short circuit could have triggered the blaze in this case.
In front of him was a stretch that’s usually busy with passengers getting on and off buses while grabbing a paan or cigarette and moving on. Less than two days ago, nine passengers died when a Raj Kalpana sleeper bus from Delhi to Mahoba caught fire on Yamuna Expressway . The shutter of the office next to the shop was down. For drivers of these long-distance private buses, the blaze remains a talking point. It is scary. The exact cause, however, is being probed by police.
On Friday afternoon, however, the familiar bustle was missing. There seems to be much less rush today.