NEW DELHI: With the political leadership of both Delhi and Uttar Pradesh not doing enough to find a new mileage formula for plying of Delhi Transport Corporation and Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation buses in each other's territory, the forthcoming meeting between officials of the two States on September 8 also looks set to end in a deadlock. And consequently the threat of another ban on entry of DTC buses into U.P. looms large.

Though a seven-member delegation of Delhi Transport Department and DTC officials had visited Lucknow on September 2 to find a solution to the impending stalemate, the meeting yielded nothing as "there was no flexibility" on either side due to firm political posturing on the issue.

Officials who attended the meeting said in the absence of any relaxations the Uttar Pradesh representatives insisted that Delhi accept the old agreement signed by its Minister and officials five years ago. This was, however, not acceptable to Delhi which has been seeking a new pact as the old one would grievously harm DTC operations in Uttar Pradesh.

"Our stand was that ways and means be devised so that the present level of plying of buses of both DTC and UPSRTC was not only maintained but also enhanced by around 10 to 20 per cent. But U.P. officials insisted that the old agreement be adhered to,'' said a senior official.

This would have meant that as against plying of 17,000 kms in Delhi the UPSRTC buses would have got 30,000 km, while DTC would have had to scale down its operations in U.P. from 120,000 km at present to just 90,000 km.

Since the offer was not acceptable to Delhi, it was decided that the next meeting would be convened on September 8. Though the venue has still not been finalised, it is expected to take place at the Players' Building here this time. Besides long distance inter-State buses, the plying of about 250 Blueline buses and 100 DTC buses which go to Noida from Delhi on a daily basis is also at stake due to the stand-off.

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