Sunday, Jul 03, 2005
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Staff Reporter
NEW DELHI: With the Delhi Metro project reaching another milestone with the commissioning of the Kashmere Gate-Central Secretariat section, both the Centre and the Delhi Government are now exploring the possibility of having other modes of transport in the Capital as well as elsewhere in the country to provide a feasible and efficient public transport system to reduce congestion on the roads and save on rising fuel costs. Speaking at the inauguration of the new Metro section near Central Secretariat station here on Saturday, the Chairperson of the National Advisory Council, Sonia Gandhi, said increasing population and vehicular density were a cause of concern for all metropolitan cities. With other metropolitan cities also showing interest in similar projects, she said the Centre was prepared to lend its complete assistance. In this regard, Ms Gandhi acknowledged that the Prime Minister, Manmohan Singh, has announced a National Urban Renewal Mission to meet the challenges. The Union Urban Development Minister, Ghulam Nabi Azad, also spoke on the need for having alternative transport and said there is a need to implement other modes of transport as well since the Metro is very capital-intensive. Noting that the United Progressive Alliance Government was planning a national policy on urban transport, he said, in the past seven to eight months the draft policy has been prepared and sent to all the State Governments. And during the National Development Council meeting recently, he said, it was widely appreciated. "We will now take it to the Cabinet this month (July) so that it really helps the people,'' he said, adding that the policy is applicable to all cities having a million-plus population.
Focus on public transport
With most of the big cities having a heterogeneous mix of vehicles and modes of transport, he said, the policy lays emphasis on improving the public transport and discouraging the use of private vehicles. Also, it lays stress on evolving a proper parking plan. "People park vehicles anywhere right now and there is not enough underground parking. But the police make focus on parking, by-passes and truck terminals mandatory and crores of people will benefit from it,'' he said. That Delhi too would soon see other modes of transport like Monorail was made evident by the Chief Minister, Sheila Dikshit, who said while Metro has been an integral part of the Delhi Government's transport policy, now other modes of transport have to be explored as Delhi has to compete with other metropolitan cities of the world.
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