By IANS,
New Delhi: The Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) Thursday told the Delhi High Court said that to relocate its Millennium Bus Depot, built on the Yamuna river bed ahead of the 2010 Commonwealth Games, to another location , would cost “Rs.300 crore”.
The depot was built on about 50 acres of land at a cost of Rs.60 crore.
Filing an affidavit before Justice Sudershan Kumar Misra, the DTC said it has been going into “loss” from years and the “civil works in the relocation process will take about Rs.100 crore along with another Rs.200 crore for a similar plot of about 50 acres of land”.
“The corporation lost around Rs.700 crore and that it will have to take money from external sources including the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) for relocation of depot,” said the affidavit filed Thursday.
However, it said that it will shift the controversial Millennium Bus Depot within nine months, as promised by the Arvind Kejriwal-led city government.
The DTC, in its response to the relocation decision, said in the affidavit that it will comply with the government’s stand to complete the shifting process within nine months period, even as it projected that such huge project usually takes a minimum of 18 months.
“Relocation of the depot would be a great time and money consuming process after following all prescribed procedures and is thus likely to go on for timelines as indicated (18-26 months),” the DTC said.
“DTC undertake to vacate the site by Oct 31, 2014,” said the affidavit.
“It is here to be note that despite the pressure of the Common wealth games, it took more than 18 months over different periods to complete the present site,” the affidavit added.
It said the identification of an alternative site by land-owning agencies like the DDA and the government will take about four to six months. The dismantling of the structure of the Millennium depot, preparation of the alternative site and completion of a new depot will take another 14-20 months.
On Jan 15, a meeting was held at Kejriwal’s office in which the decision to relocate the DTC millennium bus depot to an alternative site was taken. The next day, the AAP government told the high court about its decision during a hearing in a petition filed by environmentalist Anand Arya seeking to shift the bus depot.
“Bus routes would also have to be possibly relaid from the new site and thus may even involve relocating the bus queue shelters owing to this re-routing of the depot,” the DTC said in its affidavit.
The court will next hear the matter Jan 29.