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New Delhi, November 14 (IANS) Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Friday dedicated 50 new electric buses of Delhi Transport Corporation to the public, which include 30 twelve meter buses and 20 nine meter low-floor air-conditioned buses. An officer gave this information.
All buses are equipped with CCTV cameras, panic buttons, GPS and accessibility-friendly infrastructure, the official said in a statement.
The Chief Minister also laid the foundation stone of an Automated Testing Station (ATS) at DTC Tehkhand depot in South Delhi.
The event marked an important milestone in the government’s efforts to create a cleaner, greener and more transparent transport system in the national capital.
On this occasion, the Chief Minister said that in a period of just eight months, the Delhi Government has made extraordinary progress in the transport sector.
He highlighted the landmark measures taken to make vehicle fitness testing modern, transparent and completely digital. He said that these steps will significantly enhance the environmental quality and transport efficiency of Delhi in the coming years.
The Chief Minister emphasized that this major initiative will play an important role in reducing pollution in the city.
He said commercial vehicles are among the largest contributors to pollution in Delhi and robust, technology-driven emissions testing is essential for effective pollution control.
Transport Minister Dr. Pankaj Kumar Singh, MP Ramveer Singh Bidhuri, Councilor Sugandha Bidhuri, senior officials of the Transport Department and other dignitaries were present in this program.
The Chief Minister said vehicle emissions are one of the most significant contributors to Delhi’s air pollution.
He pointed out that there are around 6.5 lakh commercial vehicles in Delhi that require annual fitness certificate, yet the system has been neglected for decades.
He said earlier there was only one center in the capital at Jhundpura, which had a limited testing capacity of only 47,000 vehicles. This forced lakhs of vehicle owners to travel to NCR cities for fitness testing. He said that the previous governments had badly disorganized Delhi’s transport system.
The Chief Minister underlined that within just eight months, the present Delhi Government has introduced modern, transparent and fully digital system for vehicle fitness testing reforms, which will have far-reaching benefits for both the environment and the transport network.
He informed that Delhi’s first automated testing station at Nand Nagari is nearing completion and will have an annual capacity of around 72,000 vehicles.
Designed to be completely digital and free from human intervention, the center will ensure a transparent, reliable and time-efficient fitness certification process. This will provide significant relief to lakhs of vehicle owners and contribute meaningfully to the city’s pollution-control efforts, he said.
He announced that Delhi’s second fully automated station with a capacity of 73,000 vehicles annually was inaugurated at Tehkhand on Friday. With this, the total fitness-testing capacity of the city has effectively doubled.
Meanwhile, the existing centers at Burari and Jhundpura are being upgraded with state-of-the-art technology and modern standards. After the upgrade, Delhi will be able to conduct fully automated fitness tests for over one lakh vehicles every year.
Transport Minister Dr. Pankaj Kumar Singh said that Tehkhand ATS has been built at a cost of Rs 10 crore. It will carry out fully digital, automated testing of brakes, suspension, underbody components, headlights, axles and emissions and is expected to generate approximately Rs 3 crore in annual revenue.
–IANS
RCH/UK