The government is mulling to direct the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) to take action against grossly polluting vehicles and impose heavy fine amounting to Rs 2,000 on them, said Chief Minister

The Delhi High Court on Monday sought a reply from the Delhi Government’s Transport Department on a petition seeking review of an order dismissing a public interest litigation (PIL) for scrapping the BRT corridor in the Capital.

Directing the Department to file the reply by November 21, a Division Bench of the Court comprising Justice Pradeep Nandrajog and Justice Manmohan Singh asked it to clarify whether the corridor between Ambedkar Nagar and Moolchand Crossing in South Delhi was on a road less than 45 metres wide as claimed by the petitioner, Nyaya Bhoomi, in the matter.

“Need to replace buses that have outlived their service years”

The Delhi Cabinet on Tuesday approved the purchase of 1,100 more buses for the Delhi Transport Corporation. This purchase is over and above the procurement of 625 non-air-conditioned low-floor CNG buses which had earlier been approved of. Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said that to provide a reliable, punctual, comfortable and dependable public transport service in the Capital, the fleet of DTC buses is being augmented. She said there was an urgent need to replace 1,886 standard floor buses which have outlived their service years.

Transport Minister Ramakant Goswami on Thursday hailed the Delhi High Court order that dismissed a plea for scrapping the 5.8 km Ambedkar Nagar-Moolchand Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridor.

Stating that the High Court order, which noted that the Delhi Government’s decision to pursue the project was not an “irrational decision”, had validated the stand of the Sheila Dikshit regime, Mr. Goswami said the Government would continue to take decisions which were in the larger public interest.

The Delhi Government will soon float global tender for procurement of 625 low-floor buses for Delhi Transport Corporation at a cost of Rs.330 crore.

The proposal to procure the buses was cleared by Delhi Cabinet last month. “We will soon float the global tender. We are planning to get the first batch of the bus in April next year,” Delhi Transport Minister Ramakant Goswami said. The addition of the new fleet will take the number of low-floor buses of DTC to 4,406 from current 3,781.

The Delhi Cabinet on Monday decided to provide to 3.56 lakh poor families covered under the recently-launched Kerosene-Free Dilli Scheme three more LPG cylinders per annum at subsidised rates to soften the blow of the Centre’s recent decision to limit the subsidy on domestic cooking gas to just six cylinders per year.

The Delhi Government has decided to release the Rs.350 per cylinder difference between the price of a non-subsidised and subsidised cylinder in Delhi to meet this social obligation. The Government would thus be spending Rs.42 crore per annum to meet the additional cost of the three cylinders for the beneficiaries of the scheme.

The Delhi government gave some relief to the people living below poverty line from the Centre’s decision of curtailing number of subsidised LPG cylinder. The city government on Monday decided to provide nine subsidised LPG cylinders instead of six to the BPL people of the city.

The decision was taken in a Cabinet meeting presided by Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit. Around 3.5 lakh beneficiaries who are under the government’s scheme of “kerosene free Delhi” can avail nine subsidised cylinders in one year. “Our government is committed to safeguarding the interests of common man. It has once again taken a significant decision to provide relief to the poor families by mitigating the effects of inflation as far as cooking gas is concerned,” Ms Dikshit told reporters here.

The Delhi High Court on Monday sought suggestions from the Delhi Government on diverting chartered buses as well as some Delhi Transport Corporation buses passing the BRT corridor with a view to seeing whether retaining the corridor and simultaneously decongesting the carriageway along it was possible.

A Division Bench of the Court comprising Justice Pradeep Nandrajog and Justice Manmohan Singh sought the suggestions while hearing petitions seeking opening up the corridor for traffic other than buses on the dedicated stretch to unburden the overburdened carriageway along it and opposing it by the Delhi Government.

Govt Study Finds Public Transport System Suffering With Few Buses And Delays

The Delhi government on Monday dismissed as “irrational and unconstitutional” the report prepared by the Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) criticising the 5.8 km BRT corridor between Ambed-kar Nagar and Moolchand.

In its reply filed before the Delhi high court on Monday, the transport department said that the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridor has proven beneficial for a majority of the population dependent on public transport rather than a fraction of the people who travel by personal vehicles.