Development authority against Dehra Dun ISBT contract cancellation

After being rebuked by Uttarakhand Finance Minister Indira Hridayesh on the dismal condition of the Inter State Bus Terminal (ISBT) here, senior government officials now have a different story to tell.

They say the maintenance of the ISBT, the state's first public-private partnership (PPP) project, is still with Ramky Group.

R Meenakshi Sundaram, vice-chairman of the Mussoorie-Dehradun Development Authority (MDDA), told Business Standard the MDDA would not like to cancel the contract with Ramky because it (MMDA) will get an unwanted liability of a Rs 20-crore loan, which had been taken by Ramky Group for building the ISBT.

Sunderam also said maintenance of the ISBT is still with Ramky Group. Hridayesh, on the other hand, had said it was the MDDA which was doing the maintenance work of the ISBT. At the launch of the first Nirbhaya Bus Service exclusively for women by the Uttarakhand Transport Corporation (UTC) between Haridwar and Dehra Dun here on March 11, Hridayesh had lost her cool when she saw the chaotic condition of the Dehradun ISBT where she had gone for its inauguration.

Significantly, the condition of the ISBT Dehradun remains dismal, despite an earlier directive by Chief Minister Harish Rawat for the improvement. Few years ago, former chief minister N D Tiwari had staged a dharna at the ISBT on the same issue.

The ISBT Dehradun was built a decade ago as a joint venture between Ramky Group and MDDA under PPP mode.