Govt seeks court nod to buy 500 standard-floor buses

NEWDELHI: The Delhi government Wednesday requested the Delhi high court to allow it to buy 500 standard-floor buses and assured it would install hydraulic mechanic lifts and make the vehicles disabled-friendly.

A bench of chief justice Rajendra Menon and Justice V Kameswar Rao was informed the buses would cater to residents of rural areas where roads are not good. The court reserved its order.

The Delhi government counsel’s submission came during a hearing on two PILS. One was filed by activist Nipun Malhotra, who challenged the government’s decision to procure 2,000 standard-floor buses.

The petitioner’s counsel Jai Dehadrai opposed the Delhi government’s submission, saying disabled commuters face prob- lems due to the height of the standard-floor buses.

Stating that there are 2% disabled people and a considerable number of elderly citizens in Delhi, Dehadrai said a provision of the Persons with Disabilities Act does not permit the procurement of standard buses.he said the procurement would be in violation of harmonised guidelines of the urban development ministry in 2016.

Countering, senior advocate Dhruv Mehta, appearing for the Delhi government, said the Supreme Court had allowed it to procure 500 standard-floor buses and hence, even the high court should allow it to do so.

On August 2, the top court had allowed the government and the Delhi Transport Corporation to buy the first lot of 500 buses out of 1,000 planned for procurement. The court had said the state government should approach the high court to decide on the remaining buses.

Mehta said 70% of Delhi’s fleet comprises low-floor buses, more than any state in the country.

“The court has to keep in mind the practical difficulties faced by the Centre and the state government in the procurement of lowfloor buses,” Mehta said adding the current fleet is 40% less that what is required.

But Dehadrai said the Supreme Court’s decision to allow 500 standard buses was an interim measure and cannot be taken as a precedent. He said a person with a wheelchair cannot enter a standard-floor bus.

The DTC said 66% of its fleet was disabled-friendly and after procuring the 500 standard buses, the percentage would be more than 50%. If the HC agrees, it would be nearly after a decade that new buses would be added to the depleting fleet.