GMDA proposal to build bus depot in Sector 65 stuck over land transfer

Gurugram:

The Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority’s (GMDA) proposal to build a bus depot in Sector 65 has run into trouble as the Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran (HSVP) has decided not to hand over the six-acre plot allocated initially for the construction of the depot, due to the high cost of the land, officials aware of the matter said.

The authority has now asked the HSVP to provide land at any other alternative location nearby so that the bus depot can be constructed. GMDA officials said that they plan to build nine such depots across Gurugram to expand the city’s bus service. The authority plans to have 1,025 buses by 2031, they said.

A senior GMDA official, who is aware of the matter said that they had proposed to construct a bus depot in Sector 65, and a proposal for the transfer of land had been given to the Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran. “We were expecting the land transfer but HSVP officials have conveyed to us that the land in Sector 65 has two 60-metre roads abutting it and has the potential to be monetised at a very high premium. As the HSVP has other plans for this land, we have asked the authority to give us an alternative plot of land where the depot can be built. The land can be at any nearby location as we need to park buses at the depot,” he said.

Another proposed bus depot in Manesar, where the authority has planned to develop it on a public-private-partnership basis is also getting delayed due to issues related to the feasibility of the project as commercial monetisation of a bus depot is difficult, as per officials. “Private players will set up a bus depot only if the land of the facility can be exploited commercially. However, a bus depot won’t have a lot of footfall which will deter private players from taking up the project,” said the official.

GMDA officials, however, pointed out that despite the delay in transfer of land, they have adequate parking space at the Sector 10 bus depot, and more space will be created at the proposed Sector 48 bus depot to park the additional 200 electric buses that the authority is likely to get from the central government by the end of this year.

“We have parking space for 100 buses at Sector 10 and more space will be created in the Sector 48 bus depot by the time the new buses arrive,” he said.

The reason for building bus depots in different parts of the city is to expand the operations of the city bus service, and also ensure that buses don’t have to run empty, while travelling from the depot to their routes. Gurugram, at present, has two bus depots-- one at Sector 10 and another in Sector 52/53.