Delhi's Arvind Kejriwal government is facing increasing scrutiny over pollution issues. The National Green Tribunal (NGT) has already criticized the government. Now, an RTI has revealed that out of the 700 crore rupees collected as environmental cess, the government has utilized only 93 lakh rupees.
The Delhi government claims that the
possesses sufficient budget for road construction and maintenance; hence, the cess wasn't used there. Instead, the funds will be directed towards improving public transport. The government is set to purchase 2,000 buses, with 1,000 buses designated for the DTC and 1,000 cluster buses.
Source: aajtak
To address these needs, the government will invest 787 crore rupees towards acquiring electric buses. A meeting chaired by Kejriwal on Tuesday set the path for further actions by the transport minister.
It is important to note that the Kejriwal government has been under continuous pressure regarding pollution issues. The NGT has repeatedly reprimanded the government. Even when the odd-even scheme was proposed, the NGT criticized the government for not arranging enough buses yet.
The Delhi government filed a petition for reconsideration regarding the odd-even scheme with the NGT, seeking exemptions for women and two-wheeler riders. The government highlighted that if two-wheelers were included, an additional 3,500 buses would be required to transport the 30-35 lakh commuters.
