Chandni Chowk Sewa to decongest walled city from rickshaws

New Delhi, May 20(UNI) Decongesting the walled city may be a diffcult task but come June and the people of old Delhi will get a major relief from the slow-moving cyclerickshaws.

A private transport company in consultation with the State Transport Authority is all geared up to launch 'Chandni Chowk Sewa', a 4-km CNG minibus service on Chandni Chowk and Fountain route next month.

Green in colour, these minibuses are 13-22 seater capacity.

Not low floor in nature though, these minibuses have a low bed with a height of nine inches from ground. Also, their entrance is at least one and a half times wider than that of usual buses.

Various features make the bus comfortable for a physically challenged person to travel.

'' Since the seats are arranged not sideways but facing each other, the gangway is wider making it easy for a disabled person to move about in the bus,'' said Mr S P Singh, advisor to the Chaudhary Transport.

Will the people be allowed to carry luggage and goods in the bus? ''Obviously yes. Those travelling to Chandni Chowk are generally traders who carry goods. People travel by rickshaws as they can easily carry their luggage and if they are not allowed to do so in these buses, what is their use?,'' said Mr Singh.

The space behind the driving seat has been left unused to create space for the passengers to keep their luggage.

All the necessary infrastructure like parking space has been provided by the Delhi government besides various traffic improvement measures.

The Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) will ban all cyclerickshaws on these routes as and when the buses are ready to roll out.

''All the rickshaws will be restricted to sideroads till the plying hours of these buses,'' sources in the MCD said.

''It will not lead to unemployment for any rickshaw puller, contrary to what some people are saying, as those with licences will be able to continue working in the rest of the city zone'' The cyclerickshaw traffic will not be allowed on these routes from 0900 hrs to 2000 hrs. Also, any other form of motorised vehicles will not be allowed to park or wait anywhere on the above mentioned stretches.

Bus stops have been created at specific points on both these routes.

The ticket price has been fixed at Rs 5 per trip.

Initially, permits have been provided to 10 and 5 buses for the Chandni Chowk and Fatehpuri route respectively. Additional 10 and 5 buses will be permitted for plying on these routes based on the requirement.

The minibus services comes in wake of a Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) study which led the government to decide to decongest the walled city.

The dry run of the minibuses has already been done and the ''Chandni Chowk Sewa'' was scheduled to hit the streets in first half of May.

''The registration of the buses was, however, stopped and the dateline further extended due to a High Court order making it mandatory for the driver and helper to be 12th and 10th pass respectively,'' said Mr Vijendra Chaudhary of the transport company.

''We were not told of any such requirement earlier. We have the buses ready but now we do not have the drivers. Earlier, the drivers were required to be 8th pass,'' said Mr Singh.

''We have given the advertisements in all the newspapers but there are not many 12th pass drivers,'' he said.

Sooner or later, the ''Sewa'' will be a much needed relief for traders and those visiting the old city from the slow moving cyclerickshaws that cause traffic snarls.

UNI