The Hindu               19.09.2013

State gets 2,104 buses under JNNURM

In a major step to improve urban transport in the State, the Centre has sanctioned 2,104 buses to the State under the Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM).

A decision was taken at the first meeting of the Central Sanctioning and Monitoring Committee (CSMC), constituted for the purpose by the Ministry of Urban Development in New Delhi, said a PIB press release.

The earlier round of sanctioning of buses took place way back in 2009.

At the meeting on Tuesday, the number of buses proposed to be sanctioned for Karnataka and Bhatinda (Punjab) stood at 2,104 and 20 respectively.

Union Ministry Urban Development Department Secretary Sudhir Krishna had announced in August that 10,000 buses would be sanctioned to States under JNNURM.

New features

He said the current round of allocating buses had new features like sanctioning of bus depots, workshops, control centres, ITS system, etc. to make the project sustainable.

He appreciated the efforts made by Karnataka in introducing efficiency in the road transport sector, especially with respect to buses, and also asked the other States to emulate the high standards set by Karnataka.

The city of Mysore has introduced state-of-the-art buses with ITS system, including features such as LED display for stops, CCTV cameras, GPRS, etc. Karnataka plans to introduce highly fuel efficient buses OF BS-IV specifications which are environmental friendly. Hybrid buses are also proposed to be introduced in Bangalore and Mysore.

Out of the total of 10,000 buses, around 2,000 buses have been set aside for the Northeast and hilly areas. Tamil Nadu has requested for about 3,000 city buses, while Andhra Pradesh has placed a request for 1,200 city buses. Several more proposals from different States have also started reaching the Ministry now, the note said.