Gurugram bus service: Foundation stones laid for two queue shelters

Average construction cost of each bus shelter is estimated to be ₹10.5 lakh; 125 shelters to be built on priority

In a city grappling with poor public transportation services, the foundation stones of two bus queue shelters were laid outside the Huda City Centre (HCC) Metro station and near Shiv Nadar School in DLF Phase-1 on Monday.

Chandra Shekhar Khare, the chief executive officer of the Gurugram Metropolitan City Bus Limited (GMCBL), who is also the Huda administrator, laid the foundation stone for bus queue shelters at HUDA City Centre Metro station, in Gurugram, on Monday.(HT PHOTO)

The foundation stones were laid by Chandra Shekhar Khare, the chief executive officer of the Gurugram Metropolitan City Bus Limited (GMCBL), who is also the Haryana urban development authority (Huda) administrator.

The bus shelter at HCC falls on route 3—from HCC till Dharampuri—and the one in DLF Phase 1 falls on route 4—from Palam Vihar to Ghata village.

The first batch of buses is expected to hit the road by mid-August and provide public transport service in a city where connectivity is limited to areas near the New Delhi border.

The city’s bus service includes 11 routes in the first phase.

Khare said that the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) will build 328 bus shelters in the city in two groups, and the work will be completed in 10 months.

“The project to construct two groups of 164 bus queue shelters started today (Monday). The shelters have to be constructed in 10 months and the locations have been finalised,” Khare said.

Khare added that Ozone company had been given the task to construct the bus shelters, and the average construction cost of each shelter will be ₹10.5 lakh.

“Currently, 125 bus shelters have been earmarked for construction, on priority. In addition, these shelters will have dedicated spaces that will be leased for advertisement, and help generate revenue,” Khare added.

Built on a public-private partnership model, the bus service would initially be owned by three public bodies—the GMDA, the Municipal Corporation of Gurugram (MCG) and the Haryana State Industrial and Infrastructure Development Corporation (HSIIDC) — with a 50%, a 40%, and a 10% share, respectively.

In 2018, 200 low-floor CNG buses — all non-air-conditioned—would be added to the city roads and another 300—of which 200 would be air-conditioned—will be added in the next few years. Depots for the buses will be based in sectors 10, 53-54 and 72, and once fully operational, the GMDA expects three lakh people to use the service.

GMDA officials said that they had set aside ₹25 crore for the city’s bus service in its first budget, expected to be presented sometime next week.

The service is expected to launch on August 15, as announced by Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar on January 31 during the GMDA’s first-ever meeting since its inception, which was chaired by him