Even as the city bus service and Pod projects suggested to rid the city's streets of the traffic chaos are yet to materialize, the Punjab Government now has proposed another major project as solution.
The Bus Rapid Transit System or BRTS will cost about ~500 crore. Proposed under the Jawaharlal Nehru JNNURM, it is based on the system running in Ahmedabad and a few other cities. Officials of Punjab Infrastructure Development Board (PIDB), municipal corporation, district administration, police and traffic police had a meeting in this regard on Sunday.
The project was mooted for Amritsar and Ludhiana in the first phase after a Punjab government delegation had visited Turkey to study the system. Besides a dedicated corridor for low-floor buses, the project will require an elevated road and a bridge. "The routes are identified but are yet to be finalised," municipal commissioner DPS Kharbanda said after the meeting. "The project is the brainchild of deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, who was impressed by the BRTS system in Instanbul, Turkey," he added.
The system would decongest the city's roads, said Kharbanda. The city already has an elevated road, that took a long time coming, and now the second is proposed to be built expressly for the BRTS. Of the estimated expenditure of ~500 crore, the union government would contribute ~250 crore.
{{/usCountry}}The system would decongest the city's roads, said Kharbanda. The city already has an elevated road, that took a long time coming, and now the second is proposed to be built expressly for the BRTS. Of the estimated expenditure of ~500 crore, the union government would contribute ~250 crore.
{{/usCountry}}"The project is still at a preliminary stage," he said. A detailed project report (DPR) will be sent to the the union government for approval before the routes are finalised.