Vehicles can ply in BRT corridor till decision on petition

Court permits three and four-wheelers to use bus-only corridor

The Delhi High Court on Thursday modified its earlier order and directed the Transport Department of the Delhi Government to allow vehicles other than buses to ply in the 5.7-km-long Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridor between Ambedkar Nagar and Moolchand flyover in South Delhi till the petition seeking opening up the corridor for three-wheelers and four-wheelers on a permanent basis was decided.

On a direction by the High Court, the corridor was opened up for three-wheelers and four-wheelers on an experimental basis and under the observation of the Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) in May to see whether letting other vehicles to ply in the dedicated corridor would ease traffic jam on the carriageway along it.

According to an interim report by the CRRI, the traffic on the stretch during the trial run was smoother now than earlier when other vehicles were debarred from entering the corridor. The road research institute will submit its final report to the Court on July 12.

A Division Bench of the Court comprising Justice A. K. Sikri and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw had earlier left it to the CRRI to take a decision on continuing or winding up the trial.

The Bench modified the earlier order on an application by Nyaya Bhoomi, petitioner in the matter, submitting that as the CRRI was an expert body, it did not have the power to take a decision on continuing the trial.

The petitioner submitted that the Delhi Integrated Multi Modal Transit System (DIMTS) Limited had restored the earlier system of barring other vehicles from entering into the dedicated bus corridor following the conclusion of the experiment by CRRI.

The restoration of the pre-experiment traffic arrangement on the corridor had once again led to traffic snarls on the stretch along the corridor, the petitioner stated.

The petitioner has sought permission for plying of other vehicles in the corridor arguing that while the carriageway along the corridor got jammed in busy hours due to shrinkage of its width due to the carving out of space for the bus corridor, the exclusive stretch for the bus transport always had empty space to accommodate more traffic.