Bus Rapid Transit (BRT): Delhi
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A Wastage of time and money
Mar 27 2015
Clearing BRT will be a multi-crore job
Dismantling corridor will need another 4 months during which commuters can expect more traffic chaos. But right now, the project seems to be nobody's responsibility
Once the BRT corridor is dismantled, the space that will open up will be sufficient for a six-lane road.And then, three lanes on each carriageway will be open to both public transport and private vehicles. The pedestrian and cycling path will continue to remain as they exist. The construction cost of the project was around Rs 190 crore. It took another Rs 15-18 crore to maintain the corridor. Dismantling it will take anywhere between Rs 3.5 crore and Rs 11.5 crore, depending on whether the entire 5.8-km stretch is re-carpeted or repaired in parts.
While no instructions have been issued to PWD to start dismantling the corridor, officials estimate that work may take up to four months through which commuters can expect more traffic jams as the road will be closed in parts to allow work to take place. “The major work is that of dismantling the bus Q shelters and setting them up again. When they are set up again, a foundation will have to be built first. This is time consuming, especially since there will be a total of 20-odd such stops to be set up on either side of the road. Dismantling or re-installing of each shelter will cost Rs 10 lakh or so,“ said a source.
Government officials said next major work would be removal of the stones from the middle of the road that work as dividers. Along with this, the signalling system will have to be changed while the road may need to be re-paved entirely. “The signalling sys tem itself is such a waste.Close to Rs 90 lakh was spent on it though it hardly ever works and signalling is often done manually . A lot of money has been spent on the project but considering the dangers it poses, the government will have to spend a little more and improve the corridor,“ said an official.
The work of removing the stones will require very little funds since it will be done manually, say sources. However, the other major expenditure that will be incurred will be in repairing the road.“Once the bus shelters and stones are removed, they will leave patches of broken road behind. These will have to be repaired. Once directions come from the government, the entire stretch will be surveyed to see whether all of it has to be relaid or only parts of it have to be repaired. If the entire stretch is relaid, it will cost around Rs 10 crore while repairs will cost about Rs 2 crore,“ added the source.
The project also seems to be nobody's responsibility right now. The operations and maintenance were with DIMTS until recently but the lieutenant governor asked PWD to take over the work.While maintenance is in the process of being handed over to PWD, the agency refused to take up work of operating the corridor, citing lack of expertise in the field. Consequently, nobody seems to be managing the corridor at present.
Slowed the police
The Times of India Mar 27 2015
Somreet Bhattacharya
Traffic cops have been facing a challenge in controlling traffic between Ambedkar Nagar and Moolchand due to the lack of lane discipline and confusion because of multiple signaling in the Bus Rapid Transit system. Traffic officials welcomed the plans to remove the BRT, but have suggested other places where the system can be put into place. “We are not against BRT, but the plan should have been implemented after a study of the composition of traffic and commuters travelling on this stretch. At present, only a fraction of the total capacity of the BRT is in use,“ said Muktesh Chander, special commissioner (traffic).
A senior traffic officer pointed out three major problems that could not be addressed even after they were given control of signals on this stretch. One of the problems was the difference in signal timing.
Traffic police in a report had pointed out the lack of proper movement of pedestrians from bus shelters in the middle of the road to pavements. Data shows at least five pedestrians are hit by vehicles in the process every day . To reach the bus shelter, a pedestrian has to wade through oncoming traffic increasing the potential of an accident.
The third issue is lack of connectivity of the corridor to any other point. “This has made the stretch unpopular,“ said a traffic police officer. Police had suggested that BRT could be introduces at GT Road in north-east Delhi, parts of Outer Ring Road in Rohini and parts of Najafgarh Road.
In the high court
The Times of India Mar 27 2015
Abhinav Garg
HC had refused to judge the BRT battle
It took a government with a huge majority to finally wind up the controversial BRT corridor.The debate over utility of the stretch in south Delhi has remained mostly stuck to “rich car owner versus poor bus commuter“ framework, despite studies showing how the corridor created traffic bottlenecks for every category of vehicles. Even before Delhi high court, where the BRT system was repeatedly challenged, the then state government portrayed as if only a small section of car owners complained while a large category of daily passengers using public transport were satisfied.
The government's stand ignored a scathing report filed by Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) in 2012 that said that due to demarcation of lanes, a lot of time and fuel was being wasted every day . The report, prepared after several trial runs on the corridor, suggested that `NO BRT' option was most suitable under present traffic conditions.
During court hearings, the state government had dismissed the CRRI report terming it “unconstitutional“ and “irrational“ as it ignored the rights of bus commuters. Its stand was supported by advocate Prashant Bhushan who represented NGO National Alliance of People's Movement. Bhushan trashed the CRRI study as “unscientific“ and anti poor commuter.
In its verdict the same year, the court dismissed a petition by NGO Nyaya Bhoomi seeking scrapping of the corridor. It said courts should not interfere with a policy matter aimed at promoting public transport. “Within the parameters of a scope of judicial review, the scattered material placed before us would not justify a conclusion that BRT as a concept is bad and is a misfit in Delhi and thus should be scrapped,“ the HC had observed.
The court had said motorists sooner or later would shift to public transport due to limited scope of expanding the width of roads. “Even if we were to accept the argument that as of today , with the implementation of BRT corridor some inconvenience is being caused, across the board, to everybody... there being no scope to expand the width of existing roads... We see no escape from the fact that citizens of Delhi have to, one day or the other, use public transport,“ it noted.
