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.
Coupled with the ongoing construction of the Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) corridor on BSZ Marg and the Delhi T20 match at Feroz Shah Kotla grounds on Wednesday, traffic came to standstill with commuters gasping for breathing space. A senior traffic official was apprehensive that situation would worsen when the corridor would be built here and starts functioning. Match lovers were looking for space to park their vehicles on the entire stretch as almost one-third of the road space was taken away by ongoing work of the BRT corridor.
Post-BRT corridor the commuters travelling between Ambedkar Nagar and Moolchand section have started giving a damn care attitude towards the road and traffic signals. While the Government has expressed its obstinacy in not restoring the road structure of 5.8 km between Ambedkar Nagar to Moolchand, commuters too have resorted to reckless driving 'to exhibit their protest against the corridor'.
A day after its first accident, life returned to normal on the BRT corridor today. Cars waited in long queues; people waited at intersections, to cross over and board the buses plying along the central verge; traffic marshals directed different vehicles to their demarcated lanes; and all officials were busy controlling the chaotic traffic. But memories of yesterday's incident are still fresh in the minds of residents of neighbouring localities.
The PR disaster called Bus Rapid Transit corridor has stung the Delhi government hard in an election year. In a damage-control move, the government has got PR guru Dilip Cherian to oversee publicity and awareness campaign for the project on behalf of the Delhi Integrated Multimodal Transit System (DIMTS). "We have been selected as the agency to handle the corridor,' Cherian told Newsline, "though this does not just mean publicity. It also means creating awareness about the project, and data collection for agencies implementing the project.'
The Forum for Sustainable Development, (FSD), engaged in advocating sustainable development, has asked the government to evaluate the Bus Rapid Transport System (BRTS), its impact on the society, environment and public safety before its launch, said forum convenor of the coastal areas, Mr S. Bhujanga Rao.
A bus rapid transit system is a bus route that operates in a dedicated lane, where passengers pay prior to boarding at boarding stations. Bus rapid transit systems can provide a number of environmental, economic, and social benefits in cities where they are implemented.
A project meant to carve out a bus corridor and give pedestrians and cyclists designated space on a 16 km stretch of road in Delhi has resulted in outbursts of anger and acrimony by middle class car owners. Called the bus rapid transit system or the BRT, the roject is aimed at making it easier to move around in Delhi, where traffic is unruly.
Residents of Panchshila Park in south Delhi have strongly opposed Delhi government's move to reopen the U-turn at Savitri Nagar T-point on outer Ring Road. The government had opened the U-turn last week to ease traffic congestion on the BRT corridor. According to residents in the area, the U-turn had become a major problem for residents in the colony as peak hour traffic would force people to divert from the main road traffic to the service lane of the colony, which caused further chaos.
