Agreement Includes Plying Of Buses, Autos And Taxis Between States In a bid to ease the hardships faced by commuters travelling between Delhi and Uttar Pradesh daily, the two governments on Monday signed a draft interstate transport agreement. This agreement expands the existing roadmap for movement of public transport, including buses, taxis and autorickshaws in both states and the National Capital Region. Under the agreement, Delhi will operate its interstate stage carriages up to 1,45,000 km inside UP daily, out of which 45,000 km will fall in the UP portion of NCR. UP buses on the other hand will operate up to 40,000 km in Delhi. UPSRTC buses coming to Delhi from areas in UP beyond NCR would terminate at the ISBTs in the city. They will, however, be assigned two points on the way in the Capital where they can drop and pick up passengers from. Interestingly, certain strategic locations in Delhi will be linked by the interstate stage carriages coming from UP. Some of the links proposed include Delhi airport and New Delhi railway station. The agreement proposes to allow colour-coded autorickshaws and taxis to enter the Capital from UP. However, with Supreme Court having capped the number of autos that can ply in Delhi at 55,000, the UP government will have to approach the apex court in this regard. Said Environmental Pollution Prevention and Control Authority chairman Bhure Lal, who was closely involved in making the agreement possible: "We are reviewing the cap issue and will prepare a report for the court on the feasibility of easing the cap.' The last such agreement between the two states was inked in 1985. It was unilaterally revoked by the UP government in 2000 following differences. Since then, interstate movement of commercial vehicles has been carried out on the basis of informal dialogues between the two states which have on various occasions ended in stalemate, affecting services. Asserting that the agreement would improve connectivity, Delhi transport minister Haroon Yusuf said, "There was a time when for almost seven months there was no interstate bus services between UP and Delhi. It was ironical that while we were running a service between Delhi and Lahore, people from Delhi and UP were getting off buses at the respective borders and walking across to catch a bus from the other side.' UP transport minister Ram Achal Rajbhar too stressed the need to improve connectivity. According to Delhi principal secretary (transport) R K Verma, the draft agreement would become a final legal agreement in two months. "The time will be used by both states to work out the modalities. For instance, UP will need to work out how it proposes to convert its fleet to CNG,' he said. Delhi has made it clear that only CNG-run vehicles will be allowed into the Capital from UP. MOVING AHEAD Delhi buses will cover up to 1,45,000 km inside UP daily, of which 45,000 km will be in the UP portion of NCR UP will operate bus services covering 40,000 km in Delhi The agreement allows colour coded autorickshaws and taxis to enter the Capital from UP. However, with the Supreme Court having capped the No. of autos plying in Delhi, the 2 state governments will have to approach the apex court DTC will operate 604 trips daily beyond NCR into UP. Within NCR, the number of trips will be 1,498 UPSRTC will operate 2,678 buses into Delhi from beyon NCR. It will operate 1,263 trips into Delhi from the UP part NCR