Delhi High Court puts an indefinite hurdle to govt’s plan to procure 2,000 buses

The Delhi government's plan to add 2,000 new buses to its crippled stage carrier fleet in the national Capital is set to be delayed indefinitely, said government sources. The matter which has been held up because of a petition in the Delhi High Court now requires the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government to prepare a timeline regarding by when it can make its entire fleet of buses low-floor.

"The plan to procure buses has been stuck indefinitely, as the transport department, will have to buy time to prepare the timeline. It is also not possible to do the same any time soon because of a number of factors including bidders and maintenance costs," said sources.

The delay will not only add to the pressure on the crumbling public transport infrastructure but will also spoil the plans of reducing private vehicles on road to reduce air pollution levels in the city.

"The issue is being discussed with the Delhi transport minister Kailash Gahlot," said a senior Delhi government official.

The plan to procure buses was challenged in the court after a petitioner had raised that standard-floor buses are not disabled-friendly.

The state-run Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) has 3,700 low-floor buses, which fall in the disabled-friendly category, however, another fleet of 1,648 buses run under the Cluster Scheme by Delhi Integrated Multi-modal Transit System (DIMTS) are standard floor buses.

The DTC and the DIMTS had to procure 1,000 buses each. The government had also announced a deadline for these buses to come on roads in phases --- the first lot of 291 buses by November this year.

This is despite the fact that after the court stayed the procurement of 1,000 standard-floor buses, the transport department had prepared a note for the same for being "allowed" to procure these buses, as they already meet the mandate of having at least a minimum of 10 per cent buses disabled-friendly.

According to a Supreme Court order of last year, all states must have 10% of its state transport bus fleet disabled-friendly.

Of the DTC's 3,700 fleets, purchased in 2010 during Commonwealth Games over 20 per cent buses are past their shelf-life of eight years and were supposed to be withdrawn from roads this year. According to a response filed by the government in the court last year, it stated that around 11,000 more buses are required to cater to the city's average daily demand.

The department also plans to raise the high cost of maintenance of low-floor buses, which was one of the major reasons for the DTC not being able to procure more buses over the past five years. Only last year the Delhi government scrapped the annual maintenance clause from tenders, which required manufacturers to pay for the upkeep of buses.

NOV DEADLINE

The DTC and the DIMTS had to procure 1,000 buses each. The government had also announced a deadline for these buses to come on roads in phases --- the first lot of 291 buses by November this year.