DDA hands over 12-acre plot to govt for bus depot in Rohini

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) on Monday handed over 12 acres of land in Rohini to the Delhi government for constructing bus depots, even as Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot sought more area, saying it would lead to procurement of more of these vehicles.

The AAP-led government has been claiming that it cannot buy buses as the DDA was not providing enough land for depots.

The minister said that he hoped that the land-owning agency would give more land immediately so that it was able to procure more buses and augment public transport in the national capital.

12 acres of land was on Monday handed over to the transport department of the Delhi government, a DDA official said.

"Happy that DDA is handing over possession of 12 acres of Land in Rohini today, 20.11.17 at 11 am. Hope DDA will hand over more land parcels immediately so that Govt can get more buses and augment public transport (sic)," Gahlot tweeted earlier in the day.

There are around 5,567 buses, including those of the DTC, against the required 11,000, which is mandated by the Delhi High Court. During the announcement of the odd-even scheme to tackle rising air pollution in the city, the Arvind Kejriwal government faced criticism from the opposition that alleged that the AAP dispensation had not been able to add a single bus to the DTC fleet after it came to power.

However, the government could not roll out the road rationing scheme (from November 13 to 17) as the National Green Tribunal (NGT) did not give exemption to women drivers and bikes.

Last week, Gahlot had written to LG Anil Baijal seeking that he direct the DDA to allot 135 acres of land to the government to complete its bus fleet.

He had also claimed that the government had made payment of around Rs 90.5 crore, but the possession of these lands has not been given so far.

NEW DELHI: The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) on Monday decided to digitise all its services, including public grievance support to the customers, during a board meeting chaired by Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal. "DDA has 10 lakh customers and over 3,000 people daily visit DDA's offices for various services. Proposal was approved to automate services being catered to general public, so that the public need not to visit DDA offices and get their work done through online services to the maximum extent, either by accessing the on-line web-based or mobile," DDA noted in its official statement. A request for proposal for selection of vendor through an open tendering process will be floated to undertake this project, with a time frame of about 18 months from the date of award of work, the statement noted. During the meeting, DDA also relaxed the eligibility criteria for its housing scheme in Rohini. "The relaxation of rules would be given retrospective effect to cover cancelled cases in the past. However, these cases would be considered for allotment of plot in a developing sector through a draw of lots at the current pre-determined rates," the statement said.