DDA hasn’t handed over land to relocate bus depot: DTC to HC

DTC on Monday told the Delhi High Court that DDA has not so far handed over the actual possession of any of the three sites to it for shifting the 50-acre Millennium bus depot built on fragile Yamuna river bed here for the 2010 Commonwealth games.

Delhi Road Transport Authority (DTC), in its status report before Justice VK Shali, has said Delhi Development Authority (DDA) has ‘shown the area and location without providing any demarcation of the land’.

‘DDA has generally shown the area and location to DTC without providing any demarcation of that land allotment letter granting possession of the same.

‘As all the necessary clearances for converting this land use to a bus depot would take time, DTC has been given paper, titled as working permission, on the land in question without the demarcation, allotment or physical possession of the said site in question,’ the report, filed through Delhi Road Transport’s counsel Sumeet Pushkarna, said.

DDA, a land-developing agency, had earlier informed the bench that it will be giving around eight acres of land to DTC at Sarai Kale Khan area.

The rest, around 20 acres of land in Phase-IV of Rohini area and certain portions of DDA land at Karkari More in east Delhi, will be given to Delhi Road Transport, the counsel for DDA had said.

However, DTC on Monday said the allotment is only on paper and it has not got the actual possession of these sites.

‘Delhi Road Transport will have to make an investment of about over Rs 100 crores at the sites to convert them into working bus depot.

Thus, without having any clearances or available land use or at least being demarcated actual physical possession of the land with proper access, the work at the sites may even take time to begin.

‘It is to be pointed out that the said land, as on date, at Rohini does not have any access road to the site,’ Delhi Road Transport said.