F
rom increasing the number of buses on roads to installing CCTV cameras across the Capital, some of the key campaign promises of the Aam Aadmi Party are now seeing a push, with an attempt to roll-out the projects in the coming few months.
On July 4, hours after the Supreme Court Constitution Bench clipped the powers of the Lieutenant-Governor, ruling that the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers was binding on the L-G on all matters except land, police and public order, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal ordered officials to expedite stalled projects.
In the month-and-a-half since then, many of the pending big-ticket projects have seen some progress. Several government officials and AAP sources have said that these projects could be rolled out in time for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
70-point action plan
Among the 70-point action plan that the AAP presented to voters ahead of the 2015 Delhi Assembly elections were the installation of CCTV cameras in public spaces, 5,000 new buses in five years and free public Wi-Fi – which are all pending at the moment.
On August 10, the Cabinet approved the project to install 1.4 lakh CCTV cameras in residential colonies and markets across the city at a cost of ₹571.40 crore.
The Public Works Department (PWD), which is executing the project, would begin the roll-out in two to three months, said PWD Principal Secretary Manoj Kumar Parida.
The Cabinet’s nod came after a tussle between the elected government and Raj Niwas over the proposed regulatory framework for CCTV systems.
In May, L-G Anil Baijal had set up a committee headed by Mr. Parida, also Principal Secretary of the Home Department, to draft a standard operating procedure (SOP) for CCTV systems.
This was rejected by the AAP dispensation as an attempt to delay the implementation.
When asked about potential challenges, Mr. Parida said there would have to be a “consensus” on the SOP issue, balancing the points of view of the PWD and the Home Department. However, he said the work was likely to start in 90 days.
Bus services
Promising “large-scale expansion in bus services” in its 70-point agenda, the AAP had set a target of adding 5,000 buses in five years. But till now, not a single bus has been procured by the government in the last three-and-a-half years.
On the other hand, the number of Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) buses was, in fact, at its lowest in a decade, as revealed in a Right to Information reply reported by The Hindu on July 24. The fleet strength of the DTC till June 23 was 3,882, which was less than the strength in 2008 – 3,934.
In late May, the DTC failed at yet another attempt to add more buses, with the tender failing for the tenth time.
The timeline set in the Budget 2018-2019 states that the public transporter was supposed to receive bids by May 11, issue the work order by July 20 and receive the first batch of buses by November 20.
In the meantime, the Delhi government came up with another proposal aimed at augmenting public transportation through the creation of the largest electric bus fleet in the world with 1,000 buses.
The government made attempts to use the Environment Compensation Charge (ECC) to procure e-buses, but the Supreme Court did not agree. The matter, already delayed by several months, is now being evaluated at a consultancy level by the Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System Limited (DIMTS).
Faced with delays in procuring buses, the government is now considering hiring them. Two meetings held by Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot on July 26 and July 31 with representatives of a private vendor led to the decision that the DTC and the said company would enter into a bilateral agreement for low-floor CNG buses on rate contract basis, the minutes of the meetings stated. It was also decided that the proposal would be placed before the Cabinet for “in-principle approval by DTC through the Transport Department immediately”, the minutes said.
A government source said the number of buses would depend on the company’s wherewithal, however, the government was flexible on the number.
The source added that these buses could be on the roads as early as six to eight months, while the purchase would take longer.
‘Thousands of hotspots’
The AAP’s promise to provide free Wi-Fi across the city got entangled in a back-and-forth between the IT Department and the PWD, which had earlier said it did not have the expertise to execute it. However, earlier this year, the PWD was entrusted with the project.
Now, the PWD Special Secretary said the Wi-Fi project could be implemented within two to three months. He added that the government had considered different options before settling on the establishment of “thousands of hotspots” around the city.
Earlier, the government had considered providing fibre optic cables till the doorstep as well as the use of coupons for existing service providers.
