SC in a bind over fate of millennium bus depot as Arvind Kejriwal takes u-turn

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Wednesday reserved its orders on the fate of the Millennium Bus depot, which has controversially continued to stay put on the Yamuna banks for over 6 years despite court orders to vacate the area.

Environment or transport, Kejriwal government's senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan asked the bench, headed by Chief Justice of india T.S. Thakur. On one hand we have to upgrade our fleet of buses to 16,000, this will require space, he said.

The CJI demanded to know if the Chief Minister, who had earlier backed the move to vacate the spot, had changed his mind.

Dhavan said yes. The bench, while expressing its worries on the environmental problem posed by encroachments into the Yamuna flood plains, reserved its order.

The Delhi High Court had asked state-owned DTC to vacate the area in 2012, but has granted it two more extensions. The NGT in the meantime has asked the government to demarcate the flood plains of the river. The DTC wants to wait for that decision before a call is taken on the depot's fate.