New Delhi: The Government of Delhi on Wednesday after being slammed by the National Green Tribunal said it has prepared a one-year short-term plan to tackle air pollution, an official said.
It has recently came under attack for not spending a single penny in 2017 out of the Rs 787 crore collected as environment cess.
A Delhi government official said Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal held a meeting with senior officials on Tuesday evening and directed that the environmental cess and environmental ambient air fund be used for procurement of buses.
Earlier, the official said Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gehlot also met DIMTS (Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System Ltd) officials over the issue.
Revealing the Delhi government's plans, he said: "The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government has prepared a one-year short-term plan, under which it proposes to procure 500 electric buses within one year."
He said the government was planning to procure buses of two different sizes -- Standard and Medium. According to him, a standard size bus costs Rs 2.6 crore while the medium size bus comes for Rs 1.6 crore.
Defending his government, Aam Aadmi Party leader Saurabh Bharadwaj in a series of tweets said: "Delhi government has never said we do not have money to tackle pollution. We have instead said we have budget to buy buses, but no space to park."
WATCH
— AAP Ka Mehta (@DaaruBaazMehta) November 15, 2017
AAP leader @Saurabh_MLAgk Addresses media of Shortage of Land to park buses.
Why is DDA and LG not allocating Land for Bus Depots. We have money and intention to bus buses, but shortage of Parking Space"@ArvindKejriwal pic.twitter.com/22Gt5hE6eR
"We have said we are even ready to pay for aerial water sprinkling, we just need support from central government and Civil Aviation Ministry," he wrote.
Suggesting that the Lt Governor was not allotting land for depots for the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) fleet, he said: "Government has plan to buy 500 electrical buses (Midi and Std), but no depots to park them. LG (Lt Governor) controls land."