The Hindu : New Delhi News : More BRT corridors, more buses

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jul 03, 2009
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

New Delhi

New Delhi

More BRT corridors, more buses

Gaurav Vivek Bhatnagar

Public transport initiative reviewed by Court-appointed panel and Delhi Govt.

More buses to be inducted under the cluster scheme
Eurto-4 compliant diesel in Delhi by 2010

NEW DELHI: The public transport initiative in the Capital was reviewed at a meeting between the Supreme Court-appointed Environment Pollution Control Authority panel head Bhure Lal and member Sunita Narain and Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit, Transport Minister Arvinder Singh Lovely and senior officials here on Thursday.

It was announced at the meeting that a study on the proposed second Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridor from Karawal Nagar to the Commonwealth Games Village would be completed by September and tenders would be floated thereafter. Also, the meeting was informed that the second phase of the first BRT corridor that connected Ambedkar Nagar to the north of Delhi would become operational by August.

It has also been decided that an automatic fare collection system and global positioning system would be installed in all the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) buses for better time and route management.

The meeting was informed that the DTC intends to increase its own strength to about 6,500 buses but the biggest bottleneck coming in the way was the inability of big suppliers like Tata and Ashok Leyland to supply so many low-floor buses on time.

While Mr. Bhure Lal is understood to have stated that he would take up the matter with these companies, sources said since a decision has now been taken to have semi-low-floor buses in the fleet as well, this supply constraint had been reduced to a great extend.

Simultaneously, the Delhi Government is now moving fast on the process of allowing private operators to run a clusters of buses. The first person to bag the tender has submitted a bank guarantee and is expected to get in 250 buses in a few months. The remaining 17 clusters would be re-tendered and now the operators would be allowed 50 per cent low-floor and 50 per cent semi-low-floor buses. This process is likely to be completed by September and about 4,500 buses are expected to come through this route. So in all, as against the requirement of about 9,000 buses, Delhi would have about 11,000 buses in a couple of years.

Sources said these private operators would get the buses on their own and are expected to look at options from other countries like China as well.

The EPCA members were also keen that a public transport fund be created under which private car owners and other road users should be taxed for subsidising and funding public transport in Delhi. Such a system is already in place in Surat and is part of the conditions stipulated under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission.

The meeting was also informed by Mr. Bhure Lal that Euro 4-compliant diesel with only 50 parts per million of sulphur would be made available in Delhi from April 1, 2010.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

New Delhi