Indian Express 08.01.2010
Metropolitan devp authority opts out of BRTS project
The Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) says it will not implement the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) project; it wants the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) or BEST to take over.
The decision came after the MMRDA had commissioned and received a draft engineering report from the consultants. “We have taken a policy decision that city-level infrastructure work would be undertaken only by respective urban local bodies. We will concentrate on the Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) like the Metro and the monorail as it would have a presence across the metropolitan region. For BRTS, the BMC and the BEST have to take a decision; we have already conveyed to them that we wouldn't execute it,” said Metropolitan Commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad.
“Also, the roads where the BRTS is to come up, the Eastern and Western Express Highways, have been handed over to the PWD and are not under our purview anymore,” he added.
The feasibility study report, submitted by CES in October, had estimated the cost at Rs 900 crore.
Municipal Commissioner Swadhin Kshatriya said he had no idea about the BRTS project, but modalities could be worked out if necessary. “The project is important for decongesting traffic in the city,” he said.
Transport expert Sudhir Badami, a member of the MMRDA's technical advisory committee on the BRTS, said it was unfortunate that the MMRDA had decided against executing the project after being given the mandate to conduct the feasibility study. “It is not just the problems of vehicular traffic and pollution that the BRTS aims to resolve. It would also reduce the number of deaths in road and rail accidents,” he said.
