Delhi's Millennium Bus Depot to be shifted in nine months

The city government Thursday told the Delhi High Court that in nine months, it will shift the DTC Millennium Bus Depot, built on the Yamuna river bed ahead of the 2010 Commonwealth Games, to another location.

Justice Sudershan Kumar Misra directed the government to submit details of its plan and the required time to shift the depot from the ecologically sensitive area within five days.

He was hearing a contempt plea filed by environmentalist Anand Arya seeking to shift the bus depot, built on flood plain. The depot was built on about 50 acres of land at a cost of Rs.60 crore.

In an affidavit before the high court, the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) informed the court a meeting was held Jan 15 at Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's office where a decision was taken to relocate depot to an alternative site.

Sep 13, 2012, a division bench had allowed the state government to make the depot on the Yamuna bank a permanent structure provided the Master Plan of Delhi 2021 was amended within six months to alter the land use and bring it in conformity with the present use. Else, the depot would have to be relocated, it had ruled.

Filing the contempt plea, Arya said the clearance for the bus depot was given by the Lt. Governor for construction of a temporary structure to be demolished after conclusion of the 2010 Commonwealth Games as the same was being used for buses ferrying the athletes.

But, even after the division bench order, the government has not complied with the order, said the petitioner.

The court will next hear the matter Jan 29.