NEW DELHI: AAM Aadmi Party spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj in a letter accused the Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA) of ‘step-motherly’ treatment over a report on the augmentation of public transport in Delhi.
The response came after the EPCA submitted a report to the SC on the status of public transport projects like 1,000 busses and Metro Phase 4 which are still pending approval.
The AAP asked how the authority was willing to go with the Centre’s proposal of implementing only three routes of Metro Phase-IV despite the Delhi cabinet clearing all the six routes proposed.
In the letter addressed to EPCA Chairman Bhure Lal, Bharadwaj complained about the disappointing treatment given to the Delhi government while accusing Lal of being biased towards BJP.
EPCA asked the Supreme Court (SC) to allow work to begin on the three ‘priority corridors’ so that the city is not “deprived of crucial public transport”.
In the letter, Bharadwaj said that an affordable Delhi Metro is the best mode of public transport to reduce road congestion in Delhi. “Need of the hour is to expand Delhi Metro and not allow its pick and choose expansion. The EPCA report is silent on how the Centre changed the conditions putting the onus of bearing operations losses of DMRC on Delhi government,” Bhardwaj said.“When it is a joint venture, is it fair that only Delhi government bear the losses?” he questioned.