The Hindu 31.01.2014
Now DDA to search for land for relocating Millennium Bus Depot
The Delhi Development Authority (DDA) on Thursday
informed the High Court that it would search for a piece of land for
allotment to the Delhi Government for building a new bus depot in place
of the Millennium Bus Depot.
Counsel for the DDA gave
this assurance when the Court asked it if it was not their
responsibility to provide land to the Government for shifting the bus
depot. The Court also observed that if the Government did not provide an
alternative plot of land, thousands of buses would be parked on the
road.
The Court later said that a senior DDA official
who knew all the details about the matter would be present in the Court
on February 19, the next date of hearing.
The land development authority had on Wednesday informed the Court that it did not have spare land for the new bus depot.
The Government has decided to dismantle the depot and shift it to another place to restore the flood pan of the Yamuna.
The Court has directed the Government to complete the shifting process within nine months.
The
depot was built for a temporary period by the previous Sheila Dikshit
Government at a cost of Rs. 60 crore in 2010 ahead of the Commonwealth
Games for parking DTC buses during the sports event.
The
Court had in 2012 directed the Delhi Government to align use of the
land on which the depot was built with the Delhi Master Plan.
The
Court had passed the direction while disposing of two public interest
litigations challenging the construction of the depot in the ‘Yamuna
river pan’. The Bench had given six months time to the Government to do
the alignment.
But it failed to do it. Thereafter, a contempt petition was filed against the Government. It is pending in the Court.
