New Delhi: Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president Shri Subhash Chopra said that the Aam Aadmi Party Government was responsible for ruining the public transport system in Delhi due to its indifference and inefficiency. He said that the destruction of public transport has resulted in the number of private vehicles increasing on Delhi roads, contributing massively to air pollution and traffic jams. He said that 46 per cent of air pollution was on account of vehicles. Shri Chopra said that the Kejriwal Government betrayed the people of Delhi by destroying the public transport system while exposing the “Kachha Chitta” of the AAP Government at a press conference at the DPCC office, Rajiv Bhawan, along with chief spokesperson Shri Mukesh Sharma. Ex-MLA Shri Naseeb Singh was also present. Shri Chopra said that the AAP Government reduced the transport budget by 7.5 per cent while the Congress Government had a Rs 4300 crore budget for public transport.
Shri Subhash Chopra said that Delhi needs a fleet of 11,000 public transport buses, but in the last five years, the DTC fleet has shrunk from 6200 under the Congress Government to 3800 buses under the Kejriwal Government. He said that the AAP Government claims to have added 100 buses last November, but did not add a single bus before that. He said that when Congress was in power, DTC buses used to cover 9.68 lakh km per day which has now come down to 6.32 lakh km per day under the AAP Government. Shri Chopra said that 45 lakh people used to travel by DTC buses when Congress was in power, which has now come down to 26 lakh commuters per day now. He said that the Congress Government constructed 15 new bus depots and 3 Inter-State Bus Terminals, but the AAP Government could not construct a single bus depot.
Shri Subhash Chopra said that the Kejriwal Government has not only ruined the DTC, but the metro work too has suffered. He said that the third phase of the Delhi Metro work has been delayed by three years while the fourth phase was running five years behind schedule. He said that during the Congress Government, the metro fares were increased only once in ten years while under the BJP rule at the Centre and the Kejriwal Government in Delhi, the metro fares were hiked twice in one year, making metro travel beyond the reach of the common people. He said that if 42 lakh people travel by metro daily, it was due to the work done by the previous Congress Government. He said that if the metro was not in place, people of Delhi would not have been able to even walk on Delhi roads.
Shri Mukesh Sharma said that during the Congress regime, 5271km of new roads were constructed, but the AAP Government has neither increased the road network, nor could ensure proper maintenance of the existing roads. He said that the Congress Government constructed 67 new flyovers, but AAP Government could construct none. He said that the Congress Government also constructed 67 new foot-bridges, 29 new subways and 4 new elevated roads while the AAP Government’s report card on this sector was ‘zero’.
Shri Mukesh Sharma said that the AAP Government stopped 152 bus routes going towards the rural areas and unauthorized colonies, which has once again proved that AAP was anti-poor. He said that despite the availability of land in Dwarka, the AAP Government could not construct an Inter-State Bus Terminus. He said that the Congress Government constructed new 15 bus terminus.
Replying to a question, Shri Chopra said that he welcomed free ride for women in DTC buses. He announced that the Congress manifesto will include issues concerning the people like DTC, unemployment, price rise, and many other issues and their solutions.
