ISBTS likely to reopen from November 1: Kailash Gahlot

The resumption of these services would mean that all three interstate bus terminals (ISBTs) in Delhi — in Anand Vihar, Kashmere Gate, and Sarai Kale Khan — will also reopen after being shut for more than seven months.

Interstate bus services and ISBTS in Delhi are likely to reopen from November 1, even as senior Delhi government officials on Friday said they hoped the 20-passenger cap on buses would be lifted by next week.

In Delhi, interstate bus services were suspended on March 21. (HT File Photo)

State transport minister Kailash Gahlot said the decision to resume interstate buses and reopen the city’s three ISBT’s was approved by the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) in a meeting held on October 23.

“The minutes of the DDMA meeting held on October 23 were issued on Thursday and received by the transport department today (Friday). The department is now preparing standard operating procedures (SOPs) to be followed in ISBTs and aboard inter-state buses. While the order will be issued by the transport department on Saturday, it is likely that resumption of interstate bus movement will be effective from November 1,” Gahlot said.

The minister said no decision had been taken regarding lifting the restriction of 20 passengers in each of our Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) and cluster buses in the DDMA meeting. Lieutenant Governor Anil Baijal had advised that the matter may be examined in light of the social distancing norms laid out for Covid-19 management.

“We had sent a proposal to increase the capacity of buses to 40 per bus after the October 23 DDMA meeting. I am yet to receive the file,” Gahlot said.

A senior official in L-G Baijal’s office said the LG has, in all likelihood, approved the proposal to increase the passenger capacity in DTC and cluster buses.

The resumption of these services would mean that all three interstate bus terminals (ISBTs) in Delhi — in Anand Vihar, Kashmere Gate, and Sarai Kale Khan — will also reopen after being shut for more than seven months.

In Delhi, interstate bus services were suspended on March 21. But before the onset of the pandemic, the three ISBTs saw a combined footfall of over 250,000 every day. At least 3,467 buses from states such as Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Haryana and Chandigarh would ply through these ISBTs every day.