RRTS has to be built to de-congest Delhi, AAP govt has to arrange funds for it: EPCA

The Supreme Court-appointed Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA) chief, Bhure Lal, on Friday said the Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS), a corridor between Delhi, Ghaziabad and Meerut, had to be built to decongest the national capital and the Delhi government had to arrange the funds for it.

Lal chaired a meeting with Delhi government officials, in which he asserted that there was no doubt that the RRTS had to be there to decongest the national capital.

"The Delhi government is facing issues in the mobilisation of resources and that is why the meeting was convened. The government has to generate the funds for the project, whether it comes from the Centre or it generates the funds itself," he said.

On January 18, the Supreme Court had asked the EPCA to convene a joint meeting of all the stakeholders within a week so that these issues could be sorted out.

The apex court had said it should be informed about the outcome of the deliberations and had posted the matter for further hearing on February 1.

Lal said the EPCA would submit its report to the court shortly.

The Delhi government on Thursday gave its in-principle approval to the National Capital Region Transport Corporation's proposal to build an elevated station at Sarai Kale Khan for the upcoming high-speed Delhi-Meerut RRTS.

But the Aam Aadmi Party-led government has been complaining that it does not have sufficient funds for the project.

The Delhi government had, in December last year, informed the Supreme Court that it had "in-principle" agreed to the RRTS but funding it was a problem.

In August last year, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had urged the Centre to bear Delhi's share of the cost for the proposed 82.15-km RRTS, citing inadequate funds.