Delhi Government has decided to assign the fate of ‘1,397 ‘bus queue shelters’ in the hands of Public Works Department (PWD). The tender for the construction of these shelters could not materialise as the Public Private Partnership (PPP) model just could not takeoff, following which the Government has decided to take up the project on its own.
“A board meeting was held by the Delhi Transport Infrastructure and Developing Corporation (DTIDC) and it has been decided to assign bus shelter project to PWD and after the construction the bus stops will be maintained by the DTIDC,” said a government official, adding that the government has assigned Rs 50 crore for the project.
After number of failed attempts, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government implemented innovative ideas and conducted design competition in February this year, still there were very few who evinced interest in the project and the project was delayed yet again.
The official also added, “One of the main factor was that most of the bus shelters are on the Outer and rural part of city and the bidders who build shelters collect money from maintaining it by displaying advertisement on these shelters. For this they look for primary locations to construct the shelters, where they can get a good deal. They have to pay concession to the transport department per advertisement as well. Thus, in outer area chances and of advertisement are less likewise.
“Fed up by the repeated failure of tenders, the government has decided to construct the bus shelters on its own instead of relying upon the private partnership,” said the official adding the design is ready for the proposed bus shelters.
The bus shelters will be constructed in blocks with world class facilities to protect the commuters from both sun and rain. The shelters will also have audio facilities for the blind persons to inform them about the upcoming bus. Besides, the government is also planning to install CCTV and wifi in all the bus shelters.
The bus queue shelters in the National capital were last built in 2010 ahead of commonwealth games during the reign of Sheila Dixit led government. A total of 1,594 stainless bus shelters were constructed during her period. Currently, there are 4,627 of which 1874 bus shelters are modernized stainless steel and the remaining are in a very poor and dilapidated conditions.