Govt approves proposal to procure 1,000 cluster buses
NEWDELHI: The Delhi government on Friday cleared in-principle a proposal to get 1,000 CNG standard floor buses, which will run under the cluster scheme, to augment the city’s ailing public bus system.
The proposal, a decision on which was deferred thrice by the Cabinet due to pending court cases, is a part of the government’s plan of adding 2,000 buses by the end of this financial year. Another 1,000 buses of the same model will be procured by the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC), tenders for which have already been floated.
However, the 1,000 cluster buses will not hit the road until the plan is approved by the Delhi High Court or the Supreme Court. Transport minister Kailash Gahlot said the high court had asked the government to explore if low-floor buses, which are accessible by differently abled, could be inducted to the proposed fleet.
“On the directions of chief minister Arvind Kejriwal, the transport department held a meeting with bus manufacturers. But, it was found that merely getting approval for the prototype of lowfloor CNG buses would take around nine months. The entire process could go up to two years,” the minister said.
The government, he said, already has 3,750 low-floor buses, which is more than 10% of the total fleet as per the SC’S guidelines. Apart from Noida, Delhi is the only city where CNG lowfloor buses ply, all others run on diesel, which is easily available.
“We hope the court will give a go ahead to the proposal as there is scarcity of buses in Delhi,” said deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia.
Gahlot said Delhi requires 11,000 buses, 5,500 buses each for the DTC and cluster scheme. Currently, the DTC runs 3,781 buses whereas 1,648 buses are run under the cluster scheme. Buses under the cluster scheme are operated by Delhi Integrated Multi Modal System. They were last procured seven years ago. Those under DTC were purchased about 10 years ago in 2008.
Each of the 2,000 new bus would come equipped with three internet protocol (IP) cameras, panic buttons, in-built GPS and anti-skid features. “Eight depots would be used to park the new cluster buses. New depots, besides eight for cluster buses, were being constructed in East Vinod Nagar, Rohini, Mundera Kalan, Burari, Bawana, Ghumman Hera,” Gahlot said.
The Delhi government would spend around ₹276 crore for engaging 1,000 cluster buses for the first year. Under the scheme, the government bears the deficit between the payment to the concessionaire and revenue (fare collection), which currently is about ₹1.92 lakh per bus.
Present fleet In process
Proposal approved Balance buses to be procured