At a meeting recently, the Residents Awareness
Association of Coimbatore (RAAC) asked the Coimbatore Corporation to
take up with the State Government the need for a monorail for the city.

A
presentation made on the occasion said that a city such as Coimbatore,
with over a million population, could go in for the mass transport
system project, more so when cities with far fewer population and lesser
area had taken many steps forward.

Another reason
the RAAC cited for having a monorail project for Coimbatore was a
mention in this regard in the Governor’s address to the Tamil Nadu
Assembly.

The demand and the Corporation’s
inclination to have a fresh look at the mass transport project comes as
the latest in the series of efforts the various Government and private
agencies have been taking for a long to bring in a mass transport
facility in the second biggest and most populated city of the State.

The first of the proposals that was discussed was that of mass rapid transit system, as in Chennai.The
Corporation administration of 1996-2001 took up the proposal and
dropped it once the experts said it was not feasible in Coimbatore. One
of the reasons cited was poor patronage for a project of such capital
intensive nature.

Next was the proposal for a metro
rail system, as in New Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore. This proposal too
had to be dropped because Coimbatore was a radial and not linear city. A
circular rail was suggested, making use of the existing rail network
around the city.

After a discussion with the Southern Railway officials, this too was given up.

Then
came hope in the form of the Central Government-funded Jawaharlal Nehru
National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) scheme, which had a transport
component.

The Coimbatore Corporation, under the
scheme, with the help of a consultant prepared a mobility plan for the
city. Therein it was suggested that Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) was
best suited for the city.

The Corporation was to
identify dedicated bus lanes on the arterial Avinashi, Tiruchi and
Mettupalayam roads. This project too went the way the others went.

There
could not have been a better, well-prepared study for the city, said S.
Baskar of IC Centre for Governance. “The mobility study talked about
every aspect of traffic and roads including platform width for
pedestrians.”And the latest in the series of suggestions was the monorail.

At
the RAAC presentation, it was said that monorail would occupy less
space, could be completed comparatively early using pre-fabricated
structures and a trip of the monorail with five carriages would take 10
buses off the road.

The presentation also said that
having three lines – the East-West Corridor, Northern Loop and Southern
Loop – would cost the Corporation around Rs. 3,500 crore. This estimate
was based on the cost of monorail projects, under various stages of
execution in other cities.

S.P. Palaniswamy, urban
transport expert, said that the Corporation would take up the work at
the earliest because every delay meant escalation in project cost.

Voicing
the very opinion, Mr. Baskar said that cities such as Ahmedabad and
Surat, which were also JNNURM beneficiary cities such as Coimbatore, had
gone far ahead and completed many projects, making themselves eligible
for second round of funding. Coimbatore, however, lagged far behind.

Highlighting
the need for a mass transport system, the Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra
Kazhagam conducted mass campaigns in various parts of the city.

Whatever
best the past, the RAAC proposal should serve as a new beginning and
the Corporation should in right earnest take up the proposal, said R.R.
Balasundaram, president, Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry,
Coimbatore.

For, with the addition of 5,000 vehicles
every year to the city’s roads, there was an urgent need for a mass
transport system to propel the city to the next level of growth.