Commuters feel ease of traffic after scrapping of BRT

After the scrapping of Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) corridor, the traffic on the 5.8-km-long stretch between Ambedkar Nagar and Moolchand has eased only a bit during peak hours. But for the rest of the day, the traffic is a breeze.

The south Delhi BRT corridor was dismantled eight years after it was created by the government of former chief minister Sheila Diskhit for nearly Rs 150 crores. Earlier in January, the Aam Aadmi Party government had initiated the dismantling of the much-hyped corridor — which was meant to allow buses to shuttle commuters through a lane free of traffic lights.

Now only remnants/ rubbles of the BRT corridor can be seen on the roadside and cycle tracks. “The commute time has reduced to less than 15 minutes after the BRT was dismantled. With the special bus lane in place, crossing the entire stretch took 25 minutes during peak hours,” Somesh Kumar, an autorickshaw driver, said. According to him, when the traffic is thin, five-eight minutes is all it takes to cover the 5.8-km stretch.

But Pramod Singh, who has been living in Chirag Dilli for the last 15 years, said: “Traffic congestion has eased only marginally. Between 8-9 am, the congestion is at its worst.” Mr Singh takes bus no. 419 to work daily from the newly-relocated Chirag Dilli bus stand, which bears no signage.

“The segregation between motorised and non-motorised lanes is underway. Once that is complete, the traffic will become less heavy,” a senior Delhi traffic police official said. The official blamed the PWD for the slow-paced restoration work. According to the traffic cop, cyclists and pedestrians are at a greater risk due to rubbles lying alongside the road.

The BRT corridor was mired in controversy ever since it became operational in 2008 as motorists complained of heavy traffic jams and commuters found it difficult to access the middle-of-the-road bus stop safely.

Prof Vinay Maitri of School of Planning and Architecture said that the south Delhi area was never the right place to introduce the BRT corridor. He said in future the government should construct BRT corridors where the demand for it is relatively high.

PWD minister Satyendra Jain said the volume of traffic will go down on the erstwhile-BRT stretch after the Delhi Metro makes entry in the area. “Metro is already planned on that route. We are thinking of having dedicated lanes for buses throughout Delhi. We have sent our file to the lieutenant-governor as well,” he told this newspaper.

“There is a need to decongest all routes. Fixing just one route wouldn’t solve the problem,” he said.

Earlier in July, the government had announced three elevated BRT corridors in Delhi.

But experts caution the government to be way more careful in planning the corridors this time since the construction of elevated corridors is going to be a way more expensive proposition.

“Elevated corridors are a costly solution. It has to be scientifically analysed, else it will create problems in future,” Mr Maitri said.