NEW DELHI: Delhi unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has alleged corruption in the government’s tendering process to purchase 1,000 electric buses. Delhi BJP chief Manoj Tiwari and leader of opposition in Delhi assembly Vijender Gupta, in a press conference held on Monday, said the government has neither bus depots nor the power supply system for charging e-buses buses and the proposal to purchase the e-buses was approved without putting the necessary infrastructure in place.
“Of the 6 bus depots which were approved to cater to these buses, 5 do not even exist on the ground. Two sites — East Vinod Nagar and Burari — are part of a protected forest area. No permission has been taken from the forest department for building bus depots at these sites,” Gupta said.
The BJP MLA further said that at Bamnoli (another chosen site for the depot), even the land has not been transferred to Transport Department yet. “At Mundhela Kalan, the land earmarked is still under cultivation and a Maruti Driving School is run at another site at Sarai Kale Khan,” he said.
The Delhi Cabinet on Saturday approved a proposal to procure 1,000 low-floor electric buses for the national capital, an initiative aimed at fighting air pollution. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, in his budget speech last week, proposed to purchase 4,000 buses, including 1,000 e-buses. The trial of the e-buses was successfully conducted in November.
How Delhi buses stack up
Requirement - 10,000
Existing fleet – 3,882 (Delhi Transport Corporation buses)
1,789 cluster buses
Budget proposal - 4,000 buses (including 1,000 e-buses)
Proposed sites for bus six new depots: East Vinod Nagar, Burari, Bamnauli, Mundela Kalan, Sarai Kale Khan, and Rohini
Proposed sites for bus terminal: Dwarka sector 4, Dwarka Sector 12, Vikaspuri, Narela