[sustran] Excellent article on City of Flyovers- Delhi

[Sudhir]

Dear All,

Excellent article - worth reading and sharing . Please share this
*
http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20081209&fname=debarshi&sid=1&pn=1
*<http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20081209&fname=debarshi&sid=1&pn=1>


*City Of Flyovers*

When I first heard this epithet to describe Delhi's growth aspirations, I
laughed it off. But six years on, as I see that vision turning into reality
I have frightfully realised how revealing that is of our model of
development and how harmful it has been for a vast majority of us....
By   Debarshi
Dasgupta <http://www.outlookindia.com/author.asp?name=Debarshi+Dasgupta>

 The first time – as an undergraduate student in 2002 – when I heard the
epithet "city of flyovers" being used by government officials to describe
Delhi's growth aspirations, I laughed it off. I credited the uninspiring and
dull description of my city to our bureaucrats and their political bosses.
But six years on as I see that vision turning into reality – Delhi since
then either has or is building close to 80 flyovers – I have frightfully
realised how revealing that epithet is of our model of development and how
harmful it has been for a vast majority of us.

It tells us the story of an India that skirts problems rather than find
sustainable solutions for them in pursuit of rapid development. Of how the
country has opted for quick-fix solutions that benefit a few in the
short-run but end up being problems for most in the long-run. This has led
to a model of urban planning that has largely pre-empted the majority of the
city's population from developing any stakes in Delhi's well-being. This is
equally true of any other Indian city.

To go back to Delhi's flyovers, the government has delightedly realised that
they are the best way to get rid of the urban chaos that has arisen out of
absence of any planning and abundance of greed. Befittingly, public
transport in Delhi has always got the short end of the stick. Bus routes
were contracted out in return for a certain commission to influential
individuals rather than being run by one consortium. This has led to the
killer phenomenon we only know so well – Bluelines, competing buses that run
over people as they race on Delhi's congested roads to rake in more
passengers. Am I to believe that a government that seeks to build and
operate new-age nuclear reactors cannot operate an efficient and safe fleet
of buses? Try telling that to the families of hundreds killed by Bluelines.

The government may have now gone ahead with the gradual introduction of
low-floor buses but it is too late. Cars and two wheelers have already taken
over our roads. Jams are inevitable given the vehicular growth and
irrespective of the number of flyovers built. A Centre for Science and
Environment (CSE) survey found that while private vehicles account for 67.6%
of the vehicles in India and occupy 67.1% of the road width, they carry only
37% of the commuters. Buses, on the other hand, make up 24.4% of the
vehicles and occupy 38% of the roads. They, however, carry 61% of the
commuters. Likewise, blueprints of rotary mode separators, with traffic
separation at distinct vertical axes and designed around the comfort of
pedestrians, have not been looked at as an alternative to flyovers by the
Delhi government..... contd


-- 
Sudhir Gota
Transport Specialist
CAI-Asia Center
Unit 3510, 35th Floor, Robinsons-Equitable Tower,
ADB Avenue, Ortigas Center, Pasig City
Metro Manila, Philippines 1605
Tel: +63-2-395-2843
Fax: +63-2-395-2846
http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia
Skype : sudhirgota
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