Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday directed Delhi Government’s representatives on the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) Board to give an immediate notice for convening an emergency board meeting.
The decision was taken in a meeting convened by the Chief Minister and attended by deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot, Chief Secretary MM Kutty, Principal Secretary (Finance), Transport Commissioner and other senior officials.
The Chief Minister directed the Chief Secretary to apprise the DMRC Board about the notice for convening an emergency DMRC Board meeting, on the demand of Delhi Government.
“It is beyond any reasonable understanding as to how a 100 per cent fare hike has been recommended by the DMRC in 5-21 km travel distance, in which there is maximum metro ridership and 50 per cent of this hike has already been implemented in May,” an official statement by the Government said.
“The Delhi Government is of the clear view that Delhi Metro’s decision to further burden its commuters, already reeling under the adverse impact of steep fare hike in May, will only result in reduced ridership, forcing them to look for vehicular modes of transport,” the statement read.
DMRC’s own data shows that the fare hike in May resulted in a decrease in ridership by 5 per cent in the month of June 2017 while in the same month in the last two years the ridership had gone up by 8 and 9 per cent respectively. Further in the month of August this year, the Metro ridership showed a decrease of 5 per cent as compared to an increase of 8 per cent in the month of August for previous two years of 2015 and 2016.
“DMRC’s reduced ridership will only lead to more vehicular traffic on Delhi roads and will weaken the fight against air pollution in winter months. Delhi Government has never interfered in the DMRC functioning and has always supported all its operations and expansions, but the Government cannot accept such an anti-commuter move,” the release stated.
In May, the minimum fare went up from Rs 8 to Rs 10 and the maximum from Rs 30 to Rs 50.
last Thursday, Kejriwal asked Gahlot to find within a week a way to stop the “anti-people” fare hike. Gahlot met DMRC Managing Director Mangu Singh and asked for putting on hold the proposed hike till the Delhi Government completed an inquiry on the matter.
On Friday, the AAP warned of a protest campaign if the DMRC remained adamant on increasing the Metro fares.
The DMRC defended its decision on fare hike by saying that its input costs have gone up over the years, and the increase is at par with Metro rails in other cities.
On Saturday, Kejriwal urged Union Urban Affairs Minister Hardeep Puri to direct the DMRC to withhold the fair hike and on Sunday called for an independent audit of DMRC’s accounts.