‘Side lanes feasible only on 7-km stretch’

Side lanes for two-wheelers on 24-km BRTS corridor are possible for only 7-km stretch in Bairagarh (6 km) and Habibganj area (1 km).

Updated on: Jul 2, 2013, 11:19:20 IST

Hindustan Times | By Neeraj Santoshi, Bhopal

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Side lanes for two-wheelers on 24-km BRTS corridor are possible for only 7-km stretch in Bairagarh (6 km) and Habibganj area (1 km).

On the remaining stretch of BRTS corridor, it is not feasible to construct side lanes for two-wheelers at present, said sources in Bhopal Municipal Corporation (BMC).

Sources said that officials in BMC checked the basic feasibility for side lanes after the state assembly estimates committee, which inspected the BRTS corridor in Bhopal on Wednesday under the chairmanship of Omprakash Saklecha, instructed BMC to do so within 10 days.

Saklecha had stated that the corridor was not just about buses plying in the central lane, emphasising that the BMC also had to take care of people using private vehicles and two-wheelers.

He had stressed on the need to create side lanes beyond the pavements on both sides so that over five lakh two-wheeler owners in Bhopal can use them.

BMC project incharge BRTS Devinder Tiwari told HT that after the instructions of the state estimates committee, they checked the basic feasibility of side lanes for two-wheelers. “There is feasibility of side lanes in 6-km Bairagarh stretch of BRTS.

Similarly, there is feasibility of sides lanes in the 1-km stretch near Habibganj area. On the remaining stretch of the corridor, it is not possible at present to create side lanes. Even for the 7-km stretch, we have to seek funds afresh and get the approval from the higher authorities,” he said.

Saklecha will present his report on BRTS corridor project in the monsoon session of the state assembly in which he will highlight some inadequacies, especially in the context of the security of the people who will be using this corridor and suggest measures that will make BRTS more passenger friendly.

BRTS is a bus-based transit system which allows higher speed, capacity and safety of buses by segregating them from other traffic on a roadway into a separated bus way. Of the 24-km BRTS corridor, there is no central bus lane on nearly 6-km stretch on Link Road 1 (3 km) and in old city near Sadar Manzil (3 km).

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Neeraj Santoshi
Neeraj Santoshi is the Chief of Bureau for Hindustan Times in Uttarakhand, where he leads the state reporting team while covering government, politics, environment, wildlife, Uttarakhand High Court, and issues shaping the Himalayan region. With more than two decades in journalism across conflict zones, he has covered politically sensitive regions and environmentally fragile landscapes, and focused on stories that combine public interest with in-depth storytelling. An alumnus of Pune University with a Master’s in Communication Studies, he has reported extensively from Jammu & Kashmir (2003-2010), Madhya Pradesh (2010 to 2018 ) and Uttarakhand (Since 2018), covering subjects ranging from insurgency, elections and governance to wildlife conservation, mining, climate change, agriculture, human rights and social justice. He has covered politics and legislative assemblies of both Jammu & Kashmir and Madhya Pradesh over more than a decade. Before taking over as Chief of Bureau in Uttarakhand, he served as Special Correspondent with Hindustan Times in Madhya Pradesh and earlier reported for both Hindustan Times and The Indian Express in Jammu & Kashmir, where he covered state politics, environment and insurgency-related developments. Over the years, his stories have focused on environmental degradation, wildlife, illegal mining, governance and the changing social fabric of Himalayan states and Central India. He is particularly interested in long-form explanatory journalism, and stories that explore the intersection of ecology, conservation, governance and society. Outside the newsroom, Neeraj enjoys reading widely on neuroscience, consciousness studies, Artificial Intelligence and quantum physics, with a special interest in Kashmiri Tantric Shaivist traditions. He is also passionate about wildlife, mountaineering and the Himalayas, interests that continue to inform his reporting and deepen his understanding of the region he covers.Read More

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