After 4 failed tenders, govt to build 1,397 bus stops by itself
SEVERAL DELAYS Transport minister faced fire over the project
NEWDELHI: After four back-to-back tenders to build 1,397 new bus stops in Delhi found no takers, the government said it has finally decided to build the bus stops on its own.
The decision comes soon after Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) legislators and the Opposition, earlier this week, criticised transport minister Kailash Gahlot over “zero progress” in redeveloping bus queue shelters (BQSS) across Delhi. Till now, the state transport department floated four tenders to get 1,397 new bus stands across the city, but failed every time with no apparent bidder showing interest.
A high-level meeting was held on Wednesday where the government decided to build the BQSS on its own to meet the viability gap. But, the bus stops will not be made of stainless steel which is a common sight in the city.
“A stainless steel bus stop costs ₹20 lakh. The model we are finalising will be around ₹8 lakh. These are likely to be powdercoated bus stops, instead of the shiny stainless steel models,” said an official privy to the development.
However, transport officials said that building all of the 1,397 bus stops would not be possible within a year. “These units will have to be built and then carried by cranes for installation. So, it will happen in phases,” another official said.
Earlier this week, AAP legislators like former law minister Jitender Singh Tomar, party spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj and Anil Bajpai had questioned the state transport minister in the Delhi Assembly over the department’s “lackadaisical attitude” about the project.
“After failing the tender four times, why is the government still going on with the same clauses? Why wasn’t the proposal made innovative and commercially viable?” the MLAS asked.
Gahlot had promised the House to submit a progress report on the project in a week’s time.
A study by the transport department suggests that the city needs at least 1,400 bus stands and the highest demand for this facility lies in outer Delhi areas.
Explaining the problem with the project, another official said, “Under the PPP model, the concessionaire builds bus shelters and enjoys the rights to collect revenue from displaying advertisements at earmarked locations on bus shelters, and in turn pay a prescribed concession fee to DTC on every advertisement. But, the problem is that the concessionaires only want to build these shelters at prime locations where he can cash in good ad revenue. As a result, less crowded, outer or rural areas get left out.”
November 2013, June 2014, February 2015 and November 2017
Cost of shelters too high Concessionaires not eager to build bus-stands in non-prime locations Very few want to put ads which means less revenue