Dear All, Excellent article - worth reading and sharing . Please share this <div class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"><a href="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</a><a href="http://www.outlookindia.com/full.asp?fodname=20081209&fname=debarshi&sid=1&pn=1"></a></div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"> </div> 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   <a href="http://www.outlookindia.com/author.asp?name=Debarshi+Dasgupta">Debarshi Dasgupta</a> <div class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"> </div> <div class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0in 0in 10pt"> 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.</div> 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 <a href="http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia">http://www.cleanairnet.org/caiasia</a> Skype : sudhirgota