Most return to depots as govt directs DTC to maintain status quo on remaining buses

New Delhi: Even as the Delhi government recalled all of its 550 plus Delhi Transport Corporation buses deployed for security personnel deployed at border protest sites back to the depots to make up for the shortage on regular routes, officials here said that around 60 per cent of the buses had returned by Thursday

night.

The remaining are still with the Delhi Police and the paramilitary personnel, according to data shared by the state government officials.

"Most buses have reported to their respective depot by late evening and around 200 buses are still with the police and the jawans. We have decided to let that be. As and when they return the buses we will use them for daily commuting. The shortage we were facing has been fulfilled," a senior official from the Transport Department said.

However, DTC Contractual workers Union is not too happy with the decision as they want to support the forces in order to ensure the safety for the city's residents.

"The buses that have returned to the depot should be sent back as this is our way to support the police and the paramilitary who are struggling at the borders. If they are on duty, it ensures protection for the residents here hence we want them to be on the field," Manoj Sharma, president of the Union told Millennium Post.

The new direction from the Transport Department to the Corporation is that bus drivers and officials should let the remaining buses be wherever they are stationed and continue to ferry the personnel as needed. "As and when the jawans release them as per their convenience they should report to their respective depot for regular services," the government official added.

Till Thursday morning around 250 buses had returned. "Some bus drivers reported that the police were not letting them go, they took the bus keys but let the drivers go," an official from DTC said.

"The jawans and police personnel have kept their guns, protective gear and other paraphernalia in the buses and hence they require it apart from resting in the bus," the official added.

A senior officer in Delhi Police said that it has been a regular practice for several years to deploy DTC buses for maintaining law and order in the city. "DTC has always given the buses for such situations. We have asked the Delhi government to continue this practice," the official said.

(With inputs from Abhay Singh)