NEW DELHI: The ‘mohalla’ bus scheme, introduced by the city government, is expected to be rolled out within the next few months. The Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) is likely to sign a contract for procuring electric buses within this week, an official said on Wednesday.‘Mohalla’ bus service, announced by the AAP government in the 2023-24 Delhi budget, aims to deploy shorter nine-metre electric buses to boost last-mile connectivity in areas with roads that have less width or are crowded.
“We are likely to sign a contract with the e-bus manufacturers this week or early next week for procurement of buses. The delivery of buses will take anywhere between three to five months,” the official said. Transport minister Kailash Gahlot had earlier said that strengthening last-mile connectivity is a key focus area of the government.
“We have held several consultations and also constituted a committee. I will also be holding one-on-one meetings with MLAs, councillors, and officials to get first-hand experience. We are also planning to hold public meetings in different areas. After these consultations we will finalise the routes of the service,” Gehlot said. Gahlot had further said that these buses would ply in a circular motion within a certain locality, ‘mohalla’ so that people could commute to nearby metro stations, markets, schools, and hospitals.
The Arvind Kejriwal government has planned to procure more than 2,000 feeder buses to operate on routes that cannot be accessed by 12-metre buses. A technical committee was constituted by the transport minister in May to determine the routes and operational characteristics of the new bus scheme. The committee has completed the route survey based on the public feedback.
“Now the survey data is being tallied with the population data and other relevant statistics such as road infrastructure and width of roads,” the official elaborated. The ‘mohalla’ bus service will be specifically designed to cater to areas where the width of the road is less or areas that are too crowded for regular 12-metre buses to ply.