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Delhi

DTC to submit plan on new bus routes; focus on outskirts

NEW DELHI: From this week, the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) will start working out plans to formulate new buses for routes in the Capital which were not covered so far.
Officials of DTC will also submit a plan of new routes by the end of April, to the Transport department of Delhi government, said sources in the Corporation.
"Our first target is to cover all the roads which have no buses. We have also a list of complaints on the demands of more buses in some of the routes, which we will work out in the next phase," said a DTC official.
According to the officials, Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot has asked the Corporation to submit a full-fledged plan, by which every route in the Capital can be covered.
"We will try to accommodate most of the routes of Delhi, but more focus will be given to the outskirts areas," asserted the source.
He added that many locations in the outskirts, such as Narela, are poorly connected by public transportation.
"We hope that by next year, we can connect all the outskirts of Delhi," said an official.
DTC has already floated tenders for procurement of 1,000 buses.
The Delhi government, in its annual Budget 2018-19, allocated Rs 5,145 crore for the transport sector – i.e. 10 per cent of the total Budget. The work to induct 1,000 standard size buses to the DTC fleet will be taken up this financial year.
The government has proposed an outlay of Rs 150 crore in 2018-19, in addition to already released fund of Rs 199.55 crore in 2012-13 for the purchase of buses by DTC.
About 1,000 new cluster buses will also be added under cluster scheme in 2018-19. The government proposed an outlay of Rs 450 crore in 2018-19 for meeting the viability gap funding of cluster buses.
The government is also planning to convert the entire bus fleet of the Capital – both cluster and DTC buses – to environment-friendly fuel technology.
In the coming year, the government plans to roll out 1,000 fully electric buses, claiming to be the largest fleet of electric buses in any city or state of India.
This year, in its budget, the government gave emphasis on the transport system. The Delhi government has tabled an enhanced budget of Rs 2,107 crore in the revised estimates, against Rs 1,642 crore in Budget Estimates in 2017-18.
This additional budget is proposed to clear all past arrears of DTC employees, due to the implementation of Seventh Pay Commission, as well as to pay arrears on account of de-freezing of DA and other benefits to DTC pensioners.
Around 41,000 employees and pensioners from DTC will benefit from this decision.
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