Seeking land for bus depots, Delhi govt asks NGT for direction

Delhi government has approached National Green Tribunal (NGT) seeking a direction to DDA to provide land for parking 10,000 buses in the national capital.
According to transport department officials, there is a dire need to construct bus depots in the city as government has planned to procure new buses.
"We have approached NGT seeking its direction to Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to provide land for the construction of bus depots which will cater to 10,000 buses," Transport Minister Gopal Rai told PTI.
There are at present 42 DTC bus depots in the national capital, some of which also cater to cluster buses (orange buses).

"In the future, the government has to buy new buses for commuters' benefit, and for that we will need land to construct bus depots.
"There is a need to promote public transport and discourage people from using private vehicles. Keeping this in mind, we will need more buses and depots," added Rai.

There is a requirement for 11,000 buses in Delhi with DTC and DIMTS mandated to run 5,500 buses. However, while DTC at present operates 4,700 buses, DIMTS runs around 1,300 of them.
Rai said that since DDA was the authority concerned which gives land, Delhi government has turned to NGT for issuing a direction to it.

Transport department officials said that DIMTS was ready to run more cluster buses in the national capital, but the land for depots was the main hurdle towards fleet expansion.