UDM panel to make BRT 'flawless'
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01/05/2008
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Pioneer (New Delhi)
With an obstinate Government going ahead with the Bus Rapid Transport system disregarding growing unrest against the project, unhappy Union Urban Development Ministry has stepped in to put tough questions to the patrons of the controversial plan. The Ministry has asked the Delhi Government to remove glitches and apprehensions pertaining to the ill-conceived BRT corridor project in Delhi. The Minister has suggested the Sheila Dikshit Government to form a high-powered committee comprising transport experts, road engineering and Residents Welfare Associations sans IIT professors Dinesh Mohan and Geetam Tiwari. According to well-placed sources, after public and media outcry on the ill-conceived BRT project between Ambedkar Nagar and Moolchand, the Ministry has asked the Delhi Government to get a clear and authentic feedback from the residents of nearby localities, using the corridor. According to sources, the Ministry has sent a missive to the Delhi Government to form a committee to address all apprehensions pertaining to BRT system in Delhi as several States are waiting for final outcome of Capital's BRT. The Ministry is unhappy over the implementation of the project 'in parts' rather than at 'one go'. "Everywhere in the world, wherever a BRT system works, the key to its success is an integrated model, which works with multi-disciplinary mechanisms allowing seamless transfer and transit to commuters. So the entire model should be implemented at one go and only then opened for public. The BRT system will be a failure if the system is implemented in parts," the Ministry said. Significantly, BRTS in Delhi does not come under the purview of Urban Development Ministry as Delhi Government and local bodies have funded it. The Urban Development Ministry's missive came after Sitaram Yechury, chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Surface Transport, raised the matter. Yechury also refused to buy the line of BRT managers and the Delhi Government as it created huge inconvenience to people. Traffic disruption was the price the city had to pay for a better public transport system.