To deal with the unprecedented growth in number of vehicles, traffic the congestion and fatal road crashes in the city, the Delhi Government will prepare a blueprint for the integrated transport development in the national Capital.
While inaugurating a seminar on ‘urban transport in Delhi,’ on Friday, Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said, “The seminar would be useful in deliberating how the transport system of Delhi can be made better.”“The Government has decided to give top priority to transport sector with an aim to develop an international standard transport set-up in the city,” she said. The seminar was an effort to cope up with the pitiable state of public transport system in the city.
Speaking on the occasion, Ramakant Goswami urged the expert participants to chart out a blueprint to bolster an integrated public transportation system, which could be followed not just by Delhi but the NCR region too. He added that to realise the same, he has written to the Government to revive DUMTA - an umbrella organisation, which can bring together multiple bodies such as Transport Department, traffic police and civic bodies for better regulation and enforcement of traffic.
Naini Jayaseelan, member secretary, National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRPB) pitched for an urgent need to plan a robust public transportation system by taking the NCR region on board. “Delhi is dependent on the regions surrounding it, which cannot be ignored while planning for an integrated transit system.
The alarming vehicular growth in Delhi, which increased 1.9 times during 2000-2009, has rendered the increase of road length by 1.1 times in the same period, resulting in heavy traffic congestion and low speeds,” she said. She highlighted that the Regional Rapid Transport System (RRTS), will result into huge fuel and time savings from the neighbouring cities -- Alwar, Meerut and Panipat to Delhi hassle free.
Sharat Sharma, Director Operations, Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) said that even though Delhi Metro aspires to create a new milestone of ferrying 25 lakh passengers on a day, there’s a need to improve the circulatory area around the metro stations. “A better traffic management outside the stations is also required. He called for a common body to develop an integrated system with Delhi Metro,” he said.
While highlighting that the city has recorded lowest fatal accidents this year, Special Commissioner of Police (Traffic), Taj Hassan drew attention on the majority of fatal accidents being the hit-and-run cases.