BRT project severely flawed, has major drawbacks: IFTRT to LG

New Delhi, Apr 22 (UNI) Joining the wave of protests against the BRT corridor in South Delhi, whose trial run over the past two days has witnessed severe chaos on the 5.8 km stretch between Ambedkar Nagar and Moolchand, the Indian Foundation of Transport Research and Training today demanded intervention of the Lt Governor to stop this trial run.

In a communication to Delhi Lt Governor Tejender Khanna, the IFTRT also called for a total review of the Delhi Gate-Ambedkar Nagar BRT project. It also called for efforts to ensure that the six BRT projects in other parts of the city were not implemented without appropriate review.

Claiming major drawbacks in the design and operation of the BRT project, which was thrown open for trial run from April 20, it said, ''in the last three days in our reality check of various points on this BRT's trial run, there has been serious deficiencies in operation of traffic signals, road crossings, bus shelter construction and its inconsistency with the type of vehicles stopping at the shelters and the design of medians constructed to segregate the traffic.

Under these circumstances, it is humbly urged that your honour should immediately intervene on this trial run and stop the ordeal of road users.'' ''It would be appropriate to conduct a total review of the Delhi Gate-Ambedkar Nagar BRT project and efforts be made to see that six other BRT projects in different parts of Delhi are not implemented without appropriate and independent review,''the IFTRT said.

On the contention of the Delhi Government that the mass chaos on the 5.8 km stretch was mere ''teething problems'', the IFTRT said, ''this is over simplification of the basic drawbacks attached to this project and in the bargain in this trial period, a large number of vehicles and road users have learnt the lesson and begun to void it. At the moment, less than half of the traffic is passing through this BRT route on the working days.

As a matter of fact, if a km of run is going to take 35 minutes as against the required five minutes, then it is an open invitation and rather compulsion on part of vehicle owners to look for alternate ways to get out of this mess.'' ''Unfortunately, the Delhi Government and related authorities have made this as prestige issue and there seems to be a case of ego clash at the cost of common citizens of Delhi,'' the IFTRT said adding that, ''the massive spending of public money on such projects cannot be allowed to be a personal decision of few powerful people in the Government.'' UNI AR GL HS1642