'DTC will not provide buses to Delhi schools from new academic session'

The DTC has stopped providing buses to schools in the city from the new academic session in view of growing demand of its fleet for public transport here, officials said on Wednesday.

The Delhi Transport Corporation has stopped providing buses to schools in the city from the new academic session in view of growing demand of its fleet for public transport here, officials said on Wednesday.

The decision was taken by senior officials of the transport department and Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) considering the need for more buses for commuters, a a senior transport department officer said, adding that the schools were informed in advance.

"The DTC has been providing over 350 of its buses to schools for carrying children. Now, the buses have been withdrawn and only 8-10 buses have been provided to some schools in view of transport facility for specially abled children," said the officer.

The government is trying to increase the deployment of more DTC and cluster buses to fill the gap, but the focus is always ensuring adequate number of buses available for public transport, said the officer.

The DTC in September last year had written to the schools as well as Delhi Police expressing its inability to provide buses for their needs. However, it had continued providing buses to the police and para military for deployment across the security as an emergency service.

Delhi currently has over 7,200 public transport buses, including 3,912 run by the DTC and 3,293 cluster buses run by Delhi Integrated Multi Modal Transit System(DIMTS). As per official estimates, the city requires 11,000 buses to meet its public transport needs.

The schools were again informed about lack of buses in January and were urged to make alternative arrangements for their transportation needs, said officials.

The schools and parents had opposed the decision of withdrawing the buses. The schools had also challenged it in Delhi High Court that had questioned the DTC over its decision. The government had cited need of public transport as the reason behind its inability to provide buses to the schools, officials said.