CWG: Delhi to roll out 6,000 government-run buses

NEW DELHI - A fleet of around 6,000 government-run buses, including 1,500 exclusively for players, delegates and media personnel, will be rolled out ahead of the Oct 3-14 Commonwealth Games in the capital, it was announced Friday.

Speaking after the inauguration of a swanky bus depot in northeast Delhi for the Games, Transport Minister Arvinder Singh Lovely said that nearly 42 sites have been identified to provide direct bus service to Games venues for the convenience of sports lovers.

The Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) has already commissioned 400 modern bus shelters on the roads leading to the Games venues, he said, adding that another 800 shelters are being installed.

The Millennium Park depot has a parking space for around 1,000 buses, five workshop-cum-bus scanning centres, seven dormitories for DTC officers, night stay for nealy 500 people, eight washing pits, four underground tanks for washing buses and two CNG filling stations, among others.

It has been made in the shortest possible time. “The construction was difficult as the bearing capacity of soil was too poor to hold the structure, including the boundary wall,” an official said.

Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said the depot has been constructed keeping in view the Oct 3-14 Games but it will continue to be an integral part of the capital’s legacy.