April 24, 2008	Thursday	Rabi-us-Sani 17, 1429

NEW DELHI, April 23: A new transit scheme aimed at speeding up New Delhi’s bus service has caused traffic chaos with thousands of motorists stuck for hours in gridlocks, officials said on Wednesday.

Engineers designated special bus lanes along a 5.8-kilometre strip to get public transport moving quicker in the city, which has an estimated 18 million people.

But a trial run that began on Monday has already been described a flop in the city famed for chaotic traffic scenes with cows and bullock carts sharing the roads with scooters, cars and buses.

“It is one of the most ill-conceived transport schemes which is putting people to such inconvenience,” MP Chandan Mitra said in parliament, a day after politicians joined ranks to demand abolition of the scheme.

—AFP