Delhi: Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal flags off 104 CNG buses

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal inaugurated 104 new CNG powered buses in the capital on Friday. The move comes a few days before the implementation of the decision to provide free travel to women in Delhi government buses.

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The buses have CCTV cameras, panic buttons, and hydraulic lifts to help differently-abled individuals, etc. The flagging-off event took place from a bus depot at Dwarka 22 Sector. In a tweet, the CM said, "Flagged off 100 new buses today, fitted with CCTV cameras, panic buttons, hydraulic lifts for the differently-abled and other modern tech Delhi's bus procurement was delayed for some years, but the good news is that the delivery of thousands of buses has picked up pace." At the event, the CM said, "In addition to these buses, 1,000 low-floor AC buses are also being inducted in the cluster scheme. These buses will be suitable for boarding and alighting of differently-abled persons, elderly persons, children, and women."

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Earlier this year, the Delhi government had announced a massive expansion plan of the buses. The Delhi government's cabinet had approved the Delhi Transport Corporation’s (DTC) proposal to get 1,000 AC low-floor CNG buses. Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia, in July, had said, "These 1,000 buses will come on Delhi roads between January and May, 2020. It is after almost a decade that the DTC will finally start getting new buses. The approval came just a few after the Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA) had requested the Supreme Court to have the Delhi government to expedite the procurement process. At the time, the Delhi Government, in a statement had said, "Work for 650 buses (of 1,000) will be awarded in 15 days. The tender for the rest of the 350 buses will be opened on July 19 this year. These 1,000 low-floor cluster buses will start coming from December 2019 in batch of 165 every month and will be completed by April 2020."

The government had recently announced that women will be allowed to travel free of cost in the Delhi metro and in Delhi government busses.

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