E-Paper
Greater Chandigarh Transport Corporation in the offing
Will work for integrated transport and seamless travel between UT, Mohali and Panchkula
A corporation to coordinate transport and traffic plans in Chandigarh tricity area is in the offing.
The proposal for the Greater Chandigarh Transport Corporation was put forward at the meeting of the committee on tricity transportation and urban planning held here on Friday. The corporation will be created after Punjab and Haryana governments study its feasibility.
“Traffic issue can be resolved only if Punjab and Haryana are also on board for a tricity solution,” said UT adviser Manoj Parida, who chaired the meeting.
“The corporation will work for seamless travel across tricity region,” said a senior UT official privy to the development . “The idea has long been in the works at the central government level, which has encouraged states to come up with such agencies that allow for coordinated transport and traffic plans between states. For tricity region, the importance of such a corporation is all the more because of traffic flow pattern between Chandigarh and its periphery.”
Sill at the proposal level, it will take time for planners to work out what components the corporation will have.
“The UT has floated the idea among Punjab and Haryana. The main purpose is to encourage people of tricity to increasingly use public transport for interstate transport. For this to happen, an integrated public transport has to be there. This may include buses, monorail or other modes. Issues relating to tariff and taxes affecting the inter-city public transport will also be sorted out through such a corporation,” said the official, requesting anonymity.
Currently, Mohali, Panchkula and Chandigarh have different transport agencies, which lack cohesion and instead of supplementing each other’s effort often work at cross purposes, said sources.
The high-level meeting was attended by Punjab principal secretary (transport) and secretary (local government), town planners of Punjab and officers from Greater Mohali Area Development Authority, Haryana Shahari Vikas Pradhikaran and Himachal Road Transport Corporation.
The regional mobility plan for a mass rapid transport system (MRTS) was the main focus for deliberations at the meeting.
The proposal of preparing a holistic plan for regional mobility was also shared, keeping in view all the aspects of urban planning, transport, engineering feasibility and the common policy denominator.
Public bike sharing and e-rickshaws for first and last mile connectivity were also discussed.
The UT administration prepared the comprehensive mobility plan, which was undertaken by RITES (an engineering consultancy company created by the Centre that specialised in the field of transport infrastructure) in 2009. The last reciprocal transport agreement was signed by the UT and Punjab in 2008 and the new draft agreement will be completed shortly.
The Haryana officials also showed interest in engaging in the reciprocal transport agreement, said sources. The Punjab state transport commissioner, Haryana additional transport commissioner and UT additional secretary transport have been appointed as nodal officers for this purpose by the respective states.
The UT administration requested both Punjab and Haryana to address the issue of traffic congestion at interstate level. The status of inner and outer ring road as part of the notified regional plan was also taken up for speedy implementation, which is to be mainly done by the two states.
The stakeholders stressed on the need for a futuristic vision document for addressing the aspirations of all the three administrations. The issues of new dumping ground, water supply and stormwater drainage were also discussed.
