DTC millennium depot in peril; DDA says it violated rules

Environmentalists campaigning for the demolition of the DTC millennium bus depot on the bank of the Yamuna river got a boost with the DDA telling the Delhi High Court on Wednesday that it has been constructed in violation of land use rules.

Environmentalists campaigning for the demolition of the DTC millennium bus depot on the bank of the Yamuna river got a boost with the DDA telling the Delhi High Court on Wednesday that it has been constructed in violation of land use rules.

HT Image

In an affidavit filed in the court, DDA's Director (Planning) Tapan Mandal said it has been built on the riverbed which has been declared zone O by DDA. 'Zone O' is that area in the master plan where only green development is permitted.

"The area under reference, that falls in Zone O, is on the river front. The area outside the embankment should be conserved and developed considering the eco-sensitive nature of the river zone," the affidavit said. Meanwhile, according to sources, the DTC has applied for a change in land use for the bus depot but the DDA was yet to consider it.

Claiming that the depot was built on the Yamuna riverbed, environmentalist V K Jain said in a PIL that it was supposed to be a temporary structure.

Contending that the construction was against the master plan and zonal plan for river Yamuna, Jain contended that such concretisation will badly affect the water recharge capacity of the area and prove harmful for the river.

In the last hearing, on January 21 itself, a bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra had said, "...if any construction is carried out, its future shall rely on the final outcome of the petition in the court."