The DDA today handed over 12 acres of land in Rohini to the Delhi government for constructing bus depots, even as Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot sought more area, saying it would lead to procurement of more of these vehicles.
The AAP government has been claiming that it cannot buy buses as the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) was not providing enough land for depots.
The minister said that he hoped that the land-owning agency would give more land immediately so that it was able to procure more buses and augment public transport in the national capital.
Twelve acres of land was today handed over to the transport department of the Delhi government, a DDA official said.
"Happy that DDA is handing over possession of 12 acres of Land in Rohini today, 20.11.17 at 11 am. Hope DDA will hand over more land parcels immediately so that Govt can get more buses and augment public transport (sic)," Gahlot tweeted earlier in the day.
There are around 5,567 buses, including those of the DTC, against the required 11,000, which is mandated by the Delhi High Court.
During the announcement of the odd-even scheme to tackle rising air pollution in the city, the Arvind Kejriwal government faced criticism from the opposition that alleged that the AAP dispensation had not been able to add a single bus to the DTC fleet after it came to power.
However, the government could not roll out the road rationing scheme (from November 13 to 17) as the National Green Tribunal (NGT) did not give exemption to women drivers and bikes.
Last week, the transport minister had written to Lt Governor Anil Baijal seeking that he direct the DDA to allot 135 acres of land to the government to complete its bus fleet.
He had also claimed that the government had made payment of around Rs 90.5 crore, but the possession of these land has not been given so far.
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