Unused buses ‘covered up’ to prevent mosquito breeding as Delhi gears up for monsoon

Buses abandoned by the DTC are being covered with waterproof material to prevent them from turning into breeding grounds for mosquitoes during the monsoon season.

Lying idle for years in dilapidated depots, the rickety buses abandoned by Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) have been one of the major breeding grounds for mosquitoes in Delhi. Finally, this monsoon, the problem is being resolved with the corporation beginning a major ‘cover-up’ exercise.

Old buses are being covered with waterproof materials like plastic and Rexine so that rainwater doesn’t collect inside them (Arun Sharma/HT PHOTO)

Old buses are being covered with waterproof materials like plastic and Rexine so that rainwater doesn’t collect inside them. “So far we have covered 57 buses and the process is on. DIMTS that runs the cluster buses is also covering around a 100 condemned buses that are lying at the Indraprastha depot,” a DTC spokesperson said.

A view of buses covered with plastic sheets at Indraprastha bus depot. (Arun Sharma/HT PHOTO)

The action has been taken on the orders of the National Green Tribunal which said buses that were unfit for plying and lying at depots in Indraprastha, Rohini, Keshopur and elsewhere were a breeding ground for mosquitoes. During the rains, water fills up in the buses which leads to mosquito breeding, the bench said on May 29.

HT visited the Indraprastha bus depot and found most of these unused buses covered. “It takes at least 20 minutes to cover one bus fully. These are low floor buses and window glasses in many of them are broken. So covering them is not a bad idea,” said a staff member of the depot. Most of these scrapped buses, which earlier ran under the cluster bus scheme, are at Indraprastha depot next to the DTC headquarters.

The corporation has also deputed a separate team for conducting regular fogging at the depots and offices. “We have formed teams who have been tasked with spraying insecticides at our depots and offices. Another thing that is being done is getting rid of scrap. Before the rains begin, we are disposing off scrap materials in order to control mosquito breeding,” an official said.

Depots where covers have been put on unfit or scrapped buses include those at Yamuna Vihar, Ambedkar Nagar, Khanpur, Indraprastha, Banda Bahadur Marg and Vinod Nagar.