Surat's BRTS update

A special purpose vehicle (SPV) will be created for the Rs 500-crore Bus Rapid Transport System (BRTS), the first route of which is expected to be ready by March 2012. This company, created with the sole aim of managing the BRTS, will have 11 members under the chairmanship of the municipal commissioner. The SPV will make policies for BRTS and inform Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) of its work and progress on a halfyearly basis. Surat’s BRTS project is nearly 8 to 10 months behind schedule. However, a 10 km stretch from Udhna Darwaja to Unn will be ready by March 2012. The other 20 km stretch from Dumas resort to Sarthana on both sides of canal will be complete only by 2012 end or March 2013. A proposal to set up the SPV was put up for the approval of standing committee which met on Thursday evening and it was approved after making a small amendment of adding one more elected councilor to the original number of 10 as proposed by the administrative wing. Municipal commissioner Manoj Das said, “The SPV is launched for a speedy and professional job. The committee can take decisions on a day-to-day basis and work efficiently. No time will be lost in implementing the decisions taken by committee.” Ruling party leader Dayashankar Singh said, “Our basic aim is the smooth operation of the transport system. Once the SPV is set up, things will move smoothly as we will be able to learn from the good and bad experiences of Ahmedabad.” Surat is following the pattern set up in Ahmedabad for smooth functioning of BRTS. An official from SMC said, “The SPV will examine the whole scenario and will adopt practices that have become successful in Ahmedabad and will look for alternatives where they faced problems.” What this effectively means is that the SPV, which will become a registered company, will be solely responsible for the operation and maintenance of BRTS. However, civil infrastructure for the project will be provided by the BRTS cell. The municipal commissioner will be the chairman of this committee. Deputy commissioner (Special projects) will be a director, whereas the additional city engineer in charge of BRTS cell will be managing director and CEO. The other directors include chairman of standing committee and one more councillor, chief accountant, deputy commissioner of police in charge of traffic, CEO of Surat Urban Development authority (SUDA), regional transport office, a representative of centre’s urban development ministry and a representative of the bus operator.