‘Not against BRT, but needs to be implemented properly’

By NewsGram Staff Writer

Days after scrapping the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system in the national capital, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Wednesday said his government was not against it, but that it needed to be properly implemented.

"We scrapped the BRT because it was not implemented properly. We are not against the BRT system but it has to be implemented properly. It has been successfully implemented in various parts of the world. We will do it in Delhi as well," Kejriwal said during a conference on Delhi Transport Vision at the Delhi Secretariat.

The Delhi government last week junked the controversial BRT corridor — a much-vaunted project of the previous Sheila Dikshit-led Congress government — following public demand and increasing accidents on the stretch.

"We will implement the BRT with proper planning and in a better manner. We need to create such a public transport system which could be used by every section of society including the poor and rich," he said.

Kejriwal said there was a huge gap between demand and supply in terms of public transport, which gave rise to other modes of transport like e-rickshaws.

"We need to work on five things — availability, easy access, punctuality, reliability and information (pertaining to bus service) — in view of making the public transport system better," he said.

The conference, where experts from various departments like transport, traffic, DDA, PWD, environment and science also participated, focussed on how public transport could be made better in the capital.

Later addressing a press conference, Delhi Transport Minister Gopal Rai said the government would ponder over how the BRT could be implemented properly in the city.

"We will see how and where it can be introduced properly. If needed, we will also take help from the Ahmedabad BRT model," Rai said.

Stressing the need of better public transport in Delhi, he said the government had come up with a proposal to form a United Multimodal Transport Authority (UMTA) for coordination among various concerned departments.

"Coordination among all the concerned authorities is very much needed for providing better, safe and pollution free public transport. UMTA will ensure coordination among the concerned departments and also review the progress of the projects," he added.

(With inputs from IANS)