New Delhi : Much to the relief of commuters, the seven-month-old bus stalemate between Uttar Pradesh and Delhi has come to an end with resumption of services from today. "Both sides have agreed to restore the services," Delhi Transport Minister Haroon Yusuf told reporters here. The standoff was affecting nearly 3.5 lakh commuters daily. Yusuf said a DTC bus-bound to Noida in UP will be flagged off from Anand Vihar Bus Terminal as a symbol of "improved" relations. The new UP Minister Ramchal Rajbhar will also be present at the occasion besides senior officials from both the states.
Though the services are being resumed from Saturday, the officials of both the states are yet to sit down to discuss the conditions for plying of buses in each others states. "That (agreement) can be done later on. Commuters' comfort is our priority. The idea is to make the commuters travel easier," Yusuf said.
Sources said, Delhi has decided to agree to the idea of UP running its buses up to the three Inter-States Bus Terminals at Anand Vihar, Sarai Kale Khan and Kashmere Gate as also to the New Delhi and Old Delhi Railway Stations. Similarly, UP will give up its demand to run buses on other city routes, an idea that the Delhi government had been opposing throughout.
In November, the dispute started after Uttar Pradesh tried to ply its CNG buses in the interior of the national capital claiming that an agreement to this effect had been signed between the two states in 2004. In response to the Delhi government impounding its buses, Uttar Pradesh also banned DTC buses from entering its territory. PTI