THE ONGOING feud over plying of UPSRTC buses in Delhi worsened on Thursday with Chief Minister Sheila Dixit refusing to meet UP Transport Minister Naresh Agarwal despite a prior appointment. She later conveyed to Agarwal to talk to her officials instead.
An enraged Agarwal has ordered the UPSRTC officers to take ‘strictest possible action against all the DTC buses plying illegally in UP’.
A senior officer of the corporation told the Hindustan Times that dozens of DTC buses passing through UP or plying between Noida, Greater NOIDA and Delhi had already been stopped and seized. However, Naresh Agarwal refused to disclose anything saying, “our officers are competent enough to check illegal plying of buses and are free to take any step under the law for the purpose.”
Ruling out the possibility of further talks at any level, Agarwal regretted that all his efforts to solve the issue amicably had failed because of an unreasonable and rigid stand taken by the Delhi Government.
Talking to reporters soon after his return from Delhi here tonight, Agarwal regretted the immature approach of Delhi Transport Minister and said that was the root cause of the dispute. He asserted that he would now talk only to the Prime Minister or Union Transport Minister to solve the issue.
{{/usCountry}}Talking to reporters soon after his return from Delhi here tonight, Agarwal regretted the immature approach of Delhi Transport Minister and said that was the root cause of the dispute. He asserted that he would now talk only to the Prime Minister or Union Transport Minister to solve the issue.
{{/usCountry}}Replying to a question, Agarwal, looking sore over the treatment meted out to him by the Delhi Chief Minister, said from tomorrow onwards, UPSRTC buses would ply only up to the Delhi border and would not enter the Delhi territory. At the same time, no DTC bus would be allowed to enter UP and this included hundreds of the DTC buses, which go to various destination in other states passing through Uttar Pradesh.
The Delhi Government misunderstood our soft stand as our weakness. It would soon realise the gravity of the situation when thousands of the DTC buses would not be allowed to ply in the state, he said adding, it was not a political issue but the Delhi Government wanted to give it a political colour.