Pune's BRTS still not fully operational

As Pune’s pilot Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) on the Katraj-Swargate-Hadapsar route completes three years of its formal launch, questions still remain about when the project will become fully operational. While the Pune Municipal Corporation claims that the basic infrastructure work is 98 per cent complete, questions pertaining to plying of good quality buses, increase in frequency, levelboarding facilities, off-board ticketing system, traffic enforcement and overall promotional branding of the system remain unanswered. Inaugurated with much fanfare on December 3, 2006, by Jaipal Reddy, the then Union minister for urban development, the project was publicised as the country’s first BRTS. The project was apparently launched with an eye on municipal elections, which were held in February the next year. Initially, only a small stretch of 6.5 km on the Swargate-Katraj road was opened, which experts called as a dedicated bus lane service and not BRTS. With numerous shortcomings and lack of traffic enforcements, the project came under flak from citizens and experts alike. The PMC, which was forced to take a review of the works, decided to include footpaths and cycle tracks as part of the BRTS, and also extended it from Swargate to Hadapsar, a distance of 10 km. From the initial expenditure of Rs 62 crore, the total expenditure incurred on the project so far has now reached Rs 120 crore. After several extensions in deadlines, the PMC now claims that the basic infrastructure work of constructing dedicated lanes, footpaths, cycle tracks, and bus shelters has been completed. “The work is 98 per cent complete. There are at least seven to eight locations where work could not be completed because of court cases,’’ PMC’s additional engineer and traffic planner Shriniwas Bonala said. Regular maintenance works are now in progress, he added. Bonala claimed that the BRTS has improved over the years because the travelling speed of buses as well as other vehicles had increased. The number of passengers travelling by buses has increased from 2.6 lakh to over 3.65 lakh, he said. Similarly, the accident rate, too, has decreased, he added. Parking facilities have been developed, while all bus shelters have information display boards. The implementation of BRTS, he said, was not an easy job. “Unlike in some other cities where BRTS lanes and infrastructure was newly-developed, here, the facility had to be developed on the busy route without diverting traffic,” he said. The entire road has now been concretised with proper direction boards, he added. On the lack of traffic enforcement, resulting in many private vehicles entering the dedicated lanes, Bonala said the traffic police have issued a notification banning entry of private vehicles on the lanes. He said a proposal of putting to use surveillance cameras on the BRTS to take action against erring motorists was in the offing. The proposal would soon be placed before the general body for approval. Asked why the PMC was not undertaking any promotional activity for branding of the BRTS as was initially planned, Bonala said although it could not be done, overall, the people using the facility are happy. About lack of enough buses and other facilities such as off-board ticketing system, Bonala said only the PMPML authorities could provide the answers. Incidentally, the PMPML in March this year had increased the fares of the air-conditioned buses which had been specifically procured for BRTS. With the passenger response dropping drastically, the PMPML was forced to bring down the fares. The PMPML had justified the increase in fares by saying that the increased maintenance cost of the buses was the reason behind the fare hike.Meanwhile, the BJP has decided to take out a horse-cart morcha on Thursday morning to demand that the BRTS should be completed in all aspects as early as possible.

Chennai high-speed circular transportation corridor snippets

The much-awaited “Chennai high-speed circular transportation corridor,” which includes the blueprint for the bus rapid transport system (BRTS), is likely to have only one layer and not two or three as proposed earlier. According to sources in the Tamil Nadu Urban Development Fund (TNUDF), the draft feasibility report is likely to be submitted next week. Work on the first phase of the corridor, from Adyar to Porur, will begin with the preparation of a project report after the draft feasibility report is finalised. Wilbur Smith Associates, commissioned by state-owned Adyar Poonga Trust (APT) will submit the report. “The draft feasibility report got delayed because we had to take the finalisation of the Metro Rail alignment and some flyover projects into consideration. We will finalise the report in a month after scrutiny,’’ TNUDF sources said. Earlier, the proposal was to make the transport corridor into a three-layered corridor with the topmost layer exclusively for BRTS. The first and second layer was envisaged for all other vehicles. But, many road safety campaigners and activists opposed this proposal during the public consultations held by TNUDF in June this year. Many said that the third layer would have be built at 50 ft height from the ground and this would make it difficult for people to reach the topmost layer in order to board buses. The revised draft feasibility report proposes a six-lane, single-layer elevated circular corridor, with the central two lanes dedicated to BRTS. There are various plans being considered for the single-level elevated corridor, including setting up of bus stations along the elevated road and providing feeder services to connect them with existing bus stops beneath and lifts for people to reach the elevated highway. The proposed 47-kmlong alignment consists of three river bank corridors along the Adyar river, Buckingham Canal and Mambalam Canal and two road corridors along Mount-Poonamallee Road and Inner Ring Road. Beginning at Adyar, the route is proposed to cover Saidapet, Jafferkhanpet, Porur, Puzhal, Manali and Central Station. The Adyar corridor will go up to Ramavaram and from there along Mount-Poonamallee Road to connect with Chennai Bypass. The project is estimated to cost between Rs 3,000-Rs 4,000 crore. “While the corridor will ease traffic congestion on arterial roads like Anna Salai, Sardar Patel Road, Inner Ring Road and Poonamallee High Road, BRTS will be a boon for public transport,’’ sources said.

Of Black and White....

India is at the fifth position in the list of 160 countries affected by the outflow of black money.

G20 is finalizing counter measures to rein in these banks by March 2010

France will insist on entities not just refraining from putting money in these banks but also severing all links with them

Switzerland is said to store a third of the total offshore wealth of all countries & has promised to ratify tax treaties

It is also renegotiating the double taxation avoidance agreement with India which was signed in 1995

Rajkhowa held in Bangladesh

The government is expecting a split in Ulfa ranks over whether to hold talks with India, following the arrest of its ‘chairman’ Arabinda Rajkhowa in Bangladesh. The indications are that he may have surrendered to Bangladeshi cops, as it would have otherwise been difficult to capture him. According to agency reports, he was handed over to Indian authorities and brought to Delhi. The arrest comes at a time when a section of the Ulfa leadership, including Rajkhowa, is said to favour taking up the Centre’s offer for “unconditional” talks in the face of opposition from Paresh Baruah, the ‘commander-in-chief’ who wants to continue the insurgency.
Formed on April 7, 1979 by Bhimakanta Buragohain, Arabinda Rajkhowa, Anup Chetia, among others, at Rang Ghar, a historic structure from the Ahom era, in Sibsagar district, to establish a ‘sovereign’ Assam
Claims to be a ‘revolutionary political organization’ engaged in a ‘liberation struggle’ against state terrorism
The Centre classified Ulfa as a terrorist organization & banned it under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in 1990
Ulfa’s Bangladesh connection was exposed when authorities in Dhaka arrested Anup Chetia on December 21, 1997. He is now in high-security Dhaka central jail
Ulfa received a body blow in ’07 when two units of its strike force, 28th battalion, declared a unilateral ceasefire with the government, without the knowledge of the outfit’s leadership
ULFA Hierarchy
Chairman : ARABINDA RAJKHOWA
Commander-in-chief : PARESH BARUAH (fugitive)
General secretary : ANUP CHETIA (in Bangladesh custody)
Vice-president : PRADIP GOGOI (in Assam jail)
Finance secretary : CHITRABAN HAZARIKA (in Assam police custody) Foreign secretary SASHADHAR CHOUDHURY (in Assam police custody)
Political adviser : BHIMKANTA BUROGOHAIN alias Mama (in Assam jail)

Somewhere in Surat....

The Surat Municipal Corporation has planned a marine tunnel aquarium, which is expected to come up in 18 to 24 months, and all the groundwork has been done for the first-of-its-kind marvel in the country. “We are looking at the possibility of a 66 or 100-metre-long snakeshaped tunnel,” said Mukesh Dalal, chairman, SMC standing committee. “The Central Marine Fish Research Institute (CMFRI), Kochi, has been appointed as the consultant for the project and it has submitted the draft bids to the SMC,” he added. “All presentations are ready...but the allotment of the funds would be done in the coming year’s budget,” said mayor Ranjit Gilitwala. The project is expected to cost around Rs 15 crore and could go up if the SMC opts for a longer tunnel, said D C Gandhi, in-charge engineer and garden cell project chief of the SMC. The SMC already has 25,722 sq mt space at Jagdishchandra Bose Udyan in Adajan where the first phase of the proposed aquarium project is coming up. The tunnel, to be made up of imported acrylic sheets, would be 4 metres broad and would have a shark pool in the first phase. “Bids for this would be invited from abroad as no one does this in India,” said Dalal. “We saw such an aquarium in Singapore and were inspired by it,” said Gilitwala.

25 years on....

It's been 25 years since one of the world's worst industrial disaster happened in Bhopal.The gas leak claimed the lives of young and old alike. Medical and legal redress continues to elude many of the survivors of the world’s worst industrial catastrophe till date .

The Bhopal Gas Leak

When: Night of 2-3 Dec 1984

What Happened : At 11.30pm, workers at the Union Carbide fertilizer plant in Bhopal reported burning in the eyes and suffocation due to gas leaking from a pressurized tank containing deadly methyl isocyanate (MIC). At 12.30am, the alarm siren was sounded and water spraying started. At 3am, the safety valve collapsed and the tank exploded, releasing a cloud of 40,000kg of lethal gases. A gentle breeze blew this cloud of death over sleeping people in 36 wards of Bhopal

Why? MIC needs to be kept at below 5°C, under pressure. But the refrigeration system had been shut down since June 1984. The tank and valves were defective. Temperatures up to 350°C are estimated to have been reached in the tank as the highly reactive gas decomposed and created a cocktail of poisonous gases. The final explosion was just waiting to happen

Death and injury came without warning to a sleeping population. Initial estimates put casualties at 3,000 dead and over 1 lakh hurt. Symptoms ranged from suffocation, blindness and vomiting to spontaneous abortions, lung, kidney, liver and brain damage. Over the years, more have succumbed — current estimates are 20,000 dead and over 5 lakh injured. Cattle and birds died in surrounding areas. Dead fish floated in lakes. Even trees perished

Major troops pullout from J&K

As it moves to stoke a dialogue with separatists in Kashmir and restrict army presence to “essentials” in J&K, the Centre has decided to “withdraw a significant number of battalions” from the state and gradually transfer the law and order to the state police. Home minister P Chidambaram told the Rajya Sabha that there was an element of “risk” attached to the move to reduce army footprint in J&K. But he maintained that there was no let-up in vigil on infiltration. The minister seemed buoyed by reduced incidence of violence in the state, which has been lowest in 2009, and the Centre seems prepared to gamble on the J&K police increasingly handling the law and order operations. The decision is bound to result in mixed reactions as army encampments are often the best bet for a “quasi-normal” life for many in Kashmir. The withdrawal is likely to be carefully monitored with the thinning initially carried out in urban areas as the rural population is much more vulnerable to jihadi groups. Though BJP MPs like Rama Jois demanded a law like Maintenance of Internal Security Act during the discussion, Chidambaram banked on peace. Giving an account of the situation in the state, the home minister said there was neither violence during Eid, nor any incident of stone throwing during Friday prayers. He said 3.9 lakh pilgrims went to Amarnath and 10,000 Sikhs came out on the streets to celebrate Guruparab. Earlier, he had supported the government’s attempt to pursue “quiet talks” with various Kashmiri groups. He said the government would not shy away from talking to any organisation—even those which are demanding the right to self determination or self rule. The minister said the government was willing to talk to “every shade of political opinion” in J&K. “These will be quiet talks, quiet diplomacy...far away from the glare of media”, Chidambaram said. Stating “zero tolerance” for both “jihadi and Hindu militancy”, Chidambaram said a big terror incident since 26/11 had been avoided due to the revamped intelligence set-up. Though Chidambaram’s reference to “Hindu militancy” was met with resistance by BJP members Prakash Javdeka and S S Ahluwalia who alleged he should not bring religion to the terror issue, the home minister refused to yield.