Delhi-Kathmandu DTC service: NGT allows registration of bus

In a relief to city passengers travelling to Nepal, the National Green Tribunal has directed the authorities to register a bus run by Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC), scheduled to ply on Delhi-Kathmandu route.
A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar, however, clarified that the registered bus would not be allowed to run in the city and can only ply between its destination point to Kathmandu.
"The application is allowed limited to the extent that vehicle would be permitted to be registered with the RTO office of Delhi but this bus would not run in NCT of Delhi but would ply between its destination point to Kathmandu," the bench said.

The order came on the plea filed by DTC after Delhi State Transport Authority refused to register a new Volvo diesel bus in the wake of NGT's December 11, 2015 order which said that new diesel-run vehicles will not be registered in the capital.
"Although no formal order of refusal has been passed by the transport authority in respect of registration of new bus, however, it was orally informed that it cannot be done in view of the order passed by the tribunal," the plea had said.
To strengthen the economic bond and facilitate movement of passengers between important destinations in India and Nepal, Delhi-Kathmandu bus service was launched by the Delhi Transport Corporation on November 25, 2014.

The bus covers a distance of 1,250 km in 30 hours.

"It is submitted that although the new bus registration is banned in Delhi, in terms of NGT order, the applicant could have got it registered out of Delhi. However, since the agreement has been entered into by the two governments, the registration outside Delhi would have affected the terms and conditions of the permit.
"It is submitted that currently three buses on this route (Delhi-Kathmandu) are plying wherein two buses are being run by Nepal government and one is being run by DTC on behalf of Government of India," DTC had said in its plea.

It had also contended that since Delhi to Kathmandu route is very long, a CNG bus was not "advisable and moreover CNG would be not available on the said route.