Delhi Police Commissioner BS Bassi has written to lieutenant-Governor Najeeb Jung urging him to dismantle the existing structure of the 5.8-km-long Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridor from Ambedkar Nagar to Moolchand as that is causing major hindrances in the smooth flow of traffic.
Delhi Traffic Police has red flagged the BRT corridor as it hardly serves any purpose and impedes traffic rather than helping it move faster.
Interestingly, the transport department made a presentation on seven new BRT corridors proposed by the erstwhile Sheila Dikshit Government before the lieutenant-Governor last month. During the meeting, it was decided that the Public Works Department (PWD) will maintain the existing BRT corridor.
BRT corridors have been successful in many cities of the world but failed to yield the desired result in Delhi and there have been demands from many quarters to scrap it. Principal Secretary (Home) Arvind Ray said that Bassi’s request to Jung to dismantle the BRT corridor that has been causing traffic jams due to deficiencies in the original plan is under consideration.
The plan to extend the BRT till Delhi Gate was put on hold after the Government faced flak for failure of the corridor. Only 5.8 km of the 9-km-long corridor is in place at present.
The BRT corridor’s failure became a major poll issue ahead of the 2013 Assembly elections. Despite defending the BRT corridor in the Delhi High Court and getting a ruling in its favour, the Dikshit Government decided to scrap the corridor in the last leg of the election campaign.
Removal of the BRT was one of the major issues in Greater Kailash Assembly constituency, which is currently represented by former Transport Minister Saurabh Bhardwaj. Scrapping of the BRT was one of the key elements of the Aam Aadmi Party’s local manifesto for the constituency.
Traffic Police had objected to the BRT corridor at the conceptual stage saying that the plan did not provide for free left turns on the stretch and there were only two lanes provided for cars. When launched in April 2008, the BRT corridor was touted as the panacea for the Capital’s traffic congestion problem as it aimed to prioritize public transport buses over private vehicles and had two separate bus lanes in the middle of the road for low-floor and other DTC buses. It also had dedicated tracks for cyclists and pedestrians apart from fringes on either side for other vehicles.
However, today the corridor is one of the worst traffic nightmares in Delhi as there is no lane discipline. There are five signals at the crossing but since cars and buses all ply in the same lane, drivers often get confused about which signal they should follow.
Traffic going from Sadiq Nagar to Pushp Vihar has to wade through vehicles coming from the opposite direction as people blatantly occupy the wrong side. If they don’t find space, they just stop in the middle, creating further chaos. Signals do not mean much. Ill-trained marshals deployed to manage traffic only wave aimlessly and add to the confusion. Traffic Police stationed in a room under the flyover regularly witness the mess, offering little solution.
Marshals deployed on the BRT corridor cost Rs 60 lakh a month and the BRT’s managing authority has been funding marshals from the advertising revenue it generates.