4 December 2006 Friends in SUSTRAN, You will be happy to know that Pune inaugurated its BRT System on 3 December 2006, one day short of two years from the date on which Enrique Penalosa made a landmark presentation at a public meeting jointly organized by PMC (Pune Municipal Corporation) and PTTF (Pune Traffic & Transportation Forum) on 4 December 2004 at the Bal Gandharva Rang Mandir, Pune. Pune becomes the first city in India to start BRT, on what still is an incomplete Pilot corridor of about 12.5 Kilometers. As enthusiastic supporters of BRT in Pune we have also been concerned about the hasty way in which projects get implemented without proper attention to detail. Yesterday's inauguration at the hands of the Union Urban Development Minister Mr Jaipal Reddy was also an example of this - largely a political affair with the ruling Congress Party rushing to get the project off the ground in time to beat the political deadline set by the oncoming elections to the Local Civic body. Under the election rules no new projects can be announced after the set date which is about 2 months from the date of polling. We are therefore treading cautiously and pressing the authorities to attend to important components of the project to ensure that by the time the full corridor becomes operational it will be a big success and win support from citizens. There are plans for implementing BRT in a phased manner on major roads stretching over 100 Kms throughout the city. Dr Geetam Tiwari and Dr Dinesh Mohan from IIT (Indian Institute of Technology), New Delhi, have played a key role in designing the Pilot project. Dr Nitin Kareer the Municipal Commissioner also deserves credit for having initiated the BRT project despite absence of political support. Although we as a local NGO have ongoing arguments with him and his officers, we acknowledge that without his backing BRT would have remained merely an idea discussed at transportation seminars. In the coming weeks we hope to post photographs and articles on Pune's BRT and would be happy if you take a look at our web site from time to time. <a href="http://www.pttf.net">www.pttf.net</a> Your comments would be most welcome. Sujit Patwardhan From: <a href="http://www.zeenews.com/znnew/articles.asp?aid=339828&sid=REG" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)"> http://www.zeenews.com/znnew/articles.asp?aid=339828&sid=REG</a>   <table style="width: 100%;" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"> <tbody><tr> <td style="padding: 0in;"> Pune becomes the first city in India to have BRT system </td> </tr> <tr height="15"> <td style="padding: 0in;" height="15">   </td> </tr> <tr> <td style="padding: 0in;"> Pune, Dec 03: Pune today become the first city in the country to have the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system, a modern public transport plan to beat traffic chaos, with Union Urban Development Minister Jaipal Reddy inaugurating the system on a 12.2 km stretch of the total planned distance of over 100 km. "The central government has approved Bus Rapid Transit system for Indore, Pune and Ahmedabad. But Pune has become the first city in the country where it (BRTs) has become operational and I am happy to flag off the bus," Reddy said at a function held to mark the occasion. Reddy, MP Suresh Kalmadi, Mayor Rajini Tribhuvan, Municipal Commissioner Nitin Kareer, Corporators and members of the public had a ride in the five Volvo buses procured for the BRTs and that plied during the inaugural run. Currently, the BRT system would be operational only on a 12.2 km long Hadapsar-Swargate-Katraj corridor, to be complete within three months at a cost of Rs 62 crore. More corridors would be added subsequently, covering all the major arterial roads for an extensive Pune-wide BRT network. The Centre has sanctioned Rs 500 crore for another 50 km for BRTs and the fund for the remaining 50 km of BRTs corridor would also be approved without any delay, the Union Minister said in his speech. Urbanisation is a byproduct of industrialisation and was inevitable. In the 20th century, the USA and Europe underwent urbanisation which was now taking place in developing countries like India, Reddy said. </td> </tr> </tbody></table>   -- ------------------------------------------------------ Sujit Patwardhan <a href="mailto:sujit@vsnl.com"> sujit@vsnl.com</a> <a href="mailto:sujitjp@gmail.com">sujitjp@gmail.com</a> "Yamuna", ICS Colony, Ganeshkhind Road, Pune 411 007 India Tel: 25537955 ----------------------------------------------------- Hon. Secretary: Parisar <a href="http://www.parisar.org">www.parisar.org</a> ------------------------------------------------------ Founder Member: PTTF (Pune Traffic & Transportation Forum) <a href="http://www.pttf.net">www.pttf.net</a> ------------------------------------------------------