May 18: City buses are flouting all rules with impunity, as enforcement authorities look the other way.

From over-carrying to stopping at places other than select locations, city buses are taking everyone for a ride.

The buses have even failed to comply with an official notification issued by the state transport department in 2003, making it mandatory for transport vehicles to exhibit certain particulars other than registration marks on the outer surface of the door on the driver?s side.

The gazette notification requires the buses to mention the name and address of the owner, type of permit with its number and validity and seating capacity, among others.

Similar was the fate of rules barring deluxe buses from carrying passengers more than the seating capacity as well as stopping in any place other than 10 select locations.

The drivers and handymen of the deluxe buses have been found to be operating at will ? packing in passengers like sardines and stopping everywhere along the way.

?Initially, I used to travel by deluxe bus. But barring the name and fare structure, there is no difference between the deluxe and the common city buses. The deluxe bus takes nearly an hour to cover a distance that should not take more than 30 minutes,? said Ranjit Dutta, a schoolteacher.

After being flooded with such complaints, the transport department is toying with the idea of doing away with deluxe buses and replacing them with more Rhino service buses.

City police have written to the transport department to cancel the permits of buses which have been fined thrice for flouting traffic rules.

?The move failed to yield the desired results because of lack of cooperation from transport officials,? a traffic police official alleged.

He said the buses compound traffic problems by violating rules.

There are nearly 1,200 city buses, of which 176 operate under the Assam State Transport Corporation.

The other buses operate under the aegis of four associations ? The Guwahati Transport Association, The Greater Guwahati United Motor Transport Association, The Deluxe Bus Association and The Greater Guwahati Mini Bus Operators? Association.

The long-distance passenger buses do not lag far behind in violating rules.

Even today, a passenger bus with a huge pile of luggage on its roof snapped electricity cables on A.K. Azad Road at Rehabari.

?This is not the first incident. Earlier, too, buses overloaded with luggage have snapped telephone and electricity cables. The buses take advantage of lax enforcement of rules by authorities,? Prasanta Barman, a resident of the area, said.