TRANSPORT MINISTER Naresh Agrawal on Saturday threatened not to allow even a single Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) bus to enter Uttar Pradesh.
He said he would carry out the threat if Delhi tried to stop the Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) buses from operating in the national capital.
“The UPSRTC will operate a high-quality city bus service within and between Noida/Greater Noida and Delhi from Monday. But Delhi is threatening not to allow our buses into the national capital, despite an agreement. If that happens, we will not allow even a single DTC bus to operate in UP,” warned Agrawal.
He said he had already issued directions to the Transport Commissioner and the UPSRTC MD to prepare a plan to deal with Delhi’s threats.
He claimed the UPSRTC’s bus service from Monday was all set to break the DTC’s monopoly in the National Capital Region (NCR). The UPSRTC will introduce 44 city buses in Noida/Greater Noida. Twenty-two of the buses will be CNG-powered and the rest diesel-driven and air-conditioned.
The minister formally flagged off 18 CNG city buses which had been plying on the Sarojini Nagar-Chinhat route in the city for several weeks. The UPSRTC will gradually replace all its diesel-driven city buses with the CNG buses. The diesel-driven buses will ply as city buses in Varanasi.
{{/usCountry}}The minister formally flagged off 18 CNG city buses which had been plying on the Sarojini Nagar-Chinhat route in the city for several weeks. The UPSRTC will gradually replace all its diesel-driven city buses with the CNG buses. The diesel-driven buses will ply as city buses in Varanasi.
{{/usCountry}}The corporation will also introduce CNG buses in Kanpur.
He claimed the government had shored up the image of the UPSRTC whose profit at the end of the financial year was likely to be Rs 150 crore more than the previous year’s figure.
He claimed the UPSRTC was bound to win the best transport corporation award next year.
The minister warned UPSRTC employees’ leaders to vacate union offices in bus depots. He said rooms, which the unions had grabbed, were meant for passengers.
Managing director Shankar Agrawal said the UPSRTC aimed to link all blocks and tehsil headquarters by 2010.