[sustran] ‘Fund us for more BRTs

[Vinay Baindur]

 ‘Fund us for more BRTs’

<atulmathur at hindustantimes.com?Subject=%E2%80%98Fund%20us%20for%20more%20BRTs%E2%80%99>
New Delhi, January 23, 2010
First Published: 00:53 IST(23/1/2010)
Last Updated: 00:54 IST(23/1/2010)

To expand bus rapid transit (BRT) system in the Capital, Delhi government's
transport department will now approach the Centre government to fund the
project.

Senior transport department officials said Delhi could get 35 per cent of
the total project cost under Jawahar Lal Nehru National Urban Renewal
Mission (JNNURM) scheme to fund the BRT expansion plans.

Delhi transport secretary R.K. Verma said the project will have to be
approved by a state level committee, which vets such projects, before it
could be sent to the Centre.

The decision came two days after Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit announced
that the state government was committed to promote public transport in Delhi
and constructing more BRT corridors was one of its priorities.

“We will move the proposal in the state level committee next week. Once
approved, we will move it to the ministry of urban development (MoUD) along
with the detailed project reports of the corridors we intend to develop,”
Verma said.

The transport department plans to develop five more BRT corridors in
different parts of the Capital in the next couple of years.

The new corridors would be from Karawal Nagar to Gandhi Nagar and Bhajanpura
to Mori Gate (15 km), Jamia Nagar to Tilak Nagar (27km), Kondli to Gokalpuri
(14.5 km), Nizamuddin to Nand Nagri (17 km) and Rajendra Nagar to Pragati
Maidan (7 km).

The Capital’s first BRT corridor, the 14.5 kilometre stretch from Ambedkar
Nagar to Delhi Gate, was entirely funded by the state government.

Only 5.8 km part (Ambedkar Nagar to Moolchand) of Rs 360-crore project is
operational while the state government plans to make the remaining 8.7 km
stretch (from Moolchand to Delhi Gate) before the Commonwealth Games in
October 2010.

The construction of the five corridors, said senior transport department
officials, is expected to cost about Rs 700 crore.

“While the Centre can fund up to 35 per cent of the project cost under the
scheme, the state will have to bear the remaining 65 per cent,” Verma said.

The Delhi government has already approved the detailed project reports (DPR)
for all five corridors.

The urban development ministry has given support to develop 422 kilometres
of the BRT corridors in nine cities across the country.

A senior ministry official said Delhi’s BRT expansion plans can also be
funded if they meet the criteria laid-down under the scheme including
creation for a separate corpus for such projects and formation of urban mass
transit authority.
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