Farmers Movement Archive

Delhi: 360 of 576 buses on special hire to cops brought back

NEW DELHI: A day after Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) ordered the withdrawal of 576 of its buses provided as ‘Special Hire’, 360 of these buses were withdrawn till 3pm on Thursday. Out of the 576 buses provided to Delhi Police and other central police forces, maximum 218 buses are deployed in North zone where both Singhu and Tikri border points are located. Total 106 of these buses have now been withdrawn, followed by 98 of the 137 buses provided in the East zone where farmers are protesting near the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border in Ghazipur. In the South zone, DTC had provided 113 buses on special hire, out of which 96 have been withdrawn and 60 out of 108 deployed in the West zone have been withdrawn. Sources in DTC said that 216 buses were yet to be withdrawn in view of the law and order situation. With nearly 45 public transport buses getting damaged on January 26, Delhi’s transport minister Gahlot had directed that from now on, DTC’s buses could only be provided on ‘Special Hire’ after approval from the Delhi government. The withdrawal orders were issued on Wednesday. “Many of these buses were hired by Delhi Police for transportation of its personnel but were also used as barricades to stop protesters. As a result, the buses sustained damages,” a source said. “DTC has sent a bill amounting to a few crores of rupees as rent and repair cost to Delhi Police,” he added. “For the maintenance of public order, police personnel need to be moved and transported to their designated locations of deployment. For which, DTC has been providing buses to Delhi Police for decades. We have requested DTC to continue the cooperation,” said Chinmoy Biswal, DCP, PRO, Delhi Police.

The Times of India

2021-02-05

Delhi