Bus marshals block road over non-payment of dues; traffic hit in Delhi

Hundreds of bus marshals deployed by the government in the Delhi Transport Corporation and cluster buses on Tuesday blocked a road stretch between ISBT Kashmere Gate and Tis Hazari court demanding that their dues be paid.

The protest continued till late in the evening with protesters saying they won't go back home without knowing the reason for the delay in payment of their dues and assurance that they will get their salaries. The protesters wanted to gherao the L-G House over the matter.

Earlier in the day, traffic movement on the road stretch between ISBT Kashmere Gate and Tis Hazari court was severely impacted as the protesters blocked the road.

It was only 6 pm that the protesters congregated at one spot near Kashmere Gate ISBT and continued their protest.

According to a senior Delhi Police official, heavy police force deployment was made to maintain law and order in view of the protest.

Police said several Civil Defence Volunteers blocked a road leading to Tis Hazari near Kashmere Gate.

"They are protesting without any of their union leaders. The protesters are blocking the road. We have requested that they must vacate the road immediately to avoid any traffic chaos," an official said.

Commuters had a harrowing time on Tuesday as they got stuck in jams due to the protest.

The Delhi Traffic Police advised the commuters to avoid the stretch.

"Traffic is affected on Lala Hardev Sahai Marg in the carriageway from ISBT, Kashmere Gate towards Tis Hazari due to demonstration. Traffic police advised the commuters to avoid the stretch," the traffic police said in a post on X.

A woman commuter posted on X that she was stuck for more than an hour in the traffic.

"Stuck from last 98 minutes (1.38 hours) traffic is not moving," another commuter posted on X.

A member of the union, which is supporting the protesters, said, "Civil Defence Volunteers have not been paid for four months. How will their families survive? Today, the volunteers wanted to gherao LG House to register their protest. They have also heard rumours that even their jobs are at stake."

Sachin, a bus marshal, said the bus marshals want their dues be paid.

"There were nearly 4,000 bus marshals who were part of the protest. We have not been paid our dues for the last four months. Living in a place like Delhi is extremely tough. Bus marshals are facing extreme hardships. They are unable to pay rent and battling other issues."

"The Delhi government says the L-G has stopped the salaries. The L-G office says they haven't done anything. We want our dues to be paid," he said.

Neeraj, another bus marshal, said they had protested earlier as well near Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's residence but did not get any assurance.

"We have staged protests earlier as well but received no assurance on our dues. We did not get any assurance today as well. We want to know the reason behind the delay in our salaries. We will keep sitting through the night to demand payment of our dues," he added.