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Running paper trains in Chandigarh
Kalam Nishan
Singh
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Those in love with Chandigarh have little idea about overall
development model. If you propose tomorrow a donation of $50,000
for providing soothing music in city’s parks, the administration
and media will celebrate you and no one will ask you to spend
$1000 of your generosity for two schools less than a mile away
from Chandigarh so they can have a luxury -- a roof! |
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Wholesome
development idea is often missed when the elite start thinking in
terms of islands of development amid an ocean of deprived people.
Chandigarh in India is one such island, and irrespective of
holistically proposed policies, the Chandigarh administration and
those in love with the city's elite image are forever in the
vanguard of coming up with wonderfully sounding schemes that have
little relevance for the overall development model. For example, if
you propose tomorrow that you would like to invest some $50,000 for
providing soothing music in Chandigarh's parks, the administration
and the media in Chandigarh will celebrate you and no one will point
out that you may kindly spend some $1000 out of the amount to ensure
that two schools less than a kilometre away from Chandigarh have
classrooms with a big time luxury -- a roof!
 In keeping with
this pattern,
Punjab's capital
but not Punjab's city, Chandigarh is currently agog with big talk.
Talk of a Metro. One of the newspapers that takes pride in catering
to the rich and the famous and considers itself in step with the
times, is going gung ho and publishing stories as if a Metro has
already been sanctioned.
Urban planners
opine that an MRTS is necessitated once the population of a city (or
urban centre) crosses 1 million. As of today, there are 26 cities
(municipal corporations) in
India having 1
million-plus population. However, modern Mass Rapid Transport
Systems exist in only in Kolkata and Delhi. Out of a blue, this
section of the media last week suddenly broke the story that the
"The Union Govt Clears The Metro Project Spreading Cheer In The
Region". The cheer was limited to Chandigarh, Mohali, Panchkula,
Kharar and Zirakpur but what is more important is that it will
remain limited to a week's time. In its hurry to break the story,
the newspaper forgot to cross check the facts, and figments of
imagination was turned into a series of reports celebrating the
"breaking story".
Many in the
Diaspora were excited to read such stories on the net and asked WSN
editors about whether Metro will be extended to more Punjab areas,
whether it may someday in the future touch Amritsar too!
The fact is that
the RITES report had been rejected by the central government on the
ground that the MRTS proposal was too expensive for the city. It is
true that
Chandigarh
presently has nearly 700,000 registered vehicles for a population of
just over one million and does not have a comprehensive public
transport system.
"On
Wednesday...the urban development ministry (UDM) gave the
all-important nod to the project that will change the face of the
Tricity. Asking the governments of
Punjab,
Haryana and
Chandigarh to
start work on a detailed project report, M Ramachandran, secretary
with the UDM, said the region could get the country’s third such
public transportation system — after Kolkata and Delhi — within the
next five years." This was the Times of India reporting in
Chandigarh in the edition of January 17, 2008. It was not surprised
to find that even the senior officials were unaware. "When TOI broke
the news to senior officials in the Chandigarh administration, most
were caught unawares," the newspaper said. Well, they could not have
been aware of something that had not happened. No wonder, UT chief
engineer SK Jaitley was "startled".
 By the next
paragraph and over three days of incessant reporting, two things
happened: No one else picked up the story and the newspaper
interviewed everyone it could find. A student, a shopkeeper, a
doctor. “Just imagine...We will actually be able to boast that we
have a Metro," was the quote from a teenager. The problem is that
thousands of crores of investment in a resource-crunched country is
not made so that someone can boast in a pub.
Navdeep Asija, a
transport scientist at the Transportation Research and Injury
Prevention Programme (TRIPP) at the Indian Institute of Technology (Delhi)
was quick to cross check facts, and called it a "MISLEAD INDIA"
campaign by the section of the media.
"An informal
meeting held with Urban Development Ministry, GOI delegation with UT
Chandigarh,
Punjab and
Haryana State official regarding the Mass Rapid Transit System for
Chandigarh,
was highlighted in a way as if approval for metro has been given,"
he said. The fact is that the MRTS Chandigarh is at discussion level
only; no such approval has been given.
Two 11 member
committees setup by Urban Development Ministry have already rejected
the proposal of Chandigarh Metro. No notification by any of the
state governments regarding the finances for this proposal has been
issued. Out Centre head at TRIPP, IIT Delhi (www.iitd.ac.in/tripp)
Dr Geetam Tiwari was astonished to hear of the media reports.
Incidentally, she was part of first committee set up by the Urban
Development Ministry to review the MRTS option for
Chandigarh.
This panel had rejected the proposal.
What the newspaper did not do
No one from the
panels of Urban Development Ministry was quoted, and the paper did
not bother. It did not even ask as to from where the finances for
the Metro will be managed? What is the revenue model for this MRTS?
And why the hell was Mumbai Metro studied for
Chandigarh? It
is important to understand here that Mumbai runs on a grade rail
based system and is very successful because Mumbai is a linear city
which involved up and down movement only. Mumbai cannot be compared
with
Chandigarh
and grade rail construction cost is 10 times cheaper than an
expensive metro.
"I, being a
transportation scientist at IIT Delhi and working on the issue of
Public Transport and Road Safety, strongly condemn this issue of
bringing out their own preconceived approach by hiding the facts
behind the real picture. In future I expect some mature journalism,"
Asija said in a mail to some media houses.
Now for some
reality. All that has happened is discussion hastaken place on a
comprehensive Mobility Plan (CMP) and a regionwide mass transport
network during a meeting held under the chairmanship of Secretary
Urban Development, Government of India, M. Ramchandran, on January
12, where it was decided that the CMP would suggest the mix of modes
of network connectivity, also covering connectivity up to Baddi in
Himachal Pradesh.
Bus Road
Transport System, dedicated bus lanes in certain stretches for full
time or peak time only will also be explored subsequently. There has
been no development from the Urban Development Ministry after it.
More important
was a decision reached for setting up a modern city bus service to
provide seamless connectivity across the entire Chandigarh Urban
Complex, which will also start operating on the 7 corridors
suggested for MRTS network. The routes would be modified after the
commencement of Metro.
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Some facts for
those over excited about Metros
As per the feasibility report by RITES on Mass Rapid Transit
System for Chandigarh Urban Complex, August 2006 for the
Chandigarh Administration, average journey time using private
mode of transport is between 5 minutes to 17.5 minutes and the
journey speed of personalized traffic in
Chandigarh is
about 33km/h. This reflects that the majority of the trips
generated in the city are short trips in the order of 2.5 to 9.6
km in length.
Expected Transport demand for the year 2011 on Mass Transit
Corridors (Line I to III) is estimated between 9754 phpdt to
4580 phpdt (Per hour per direction Trip) and this demand is
expected to go up to 31407 phpdt to 13303 phpdt by year 2041. A
bus system is capable of carrying 10,000 phpdt very comfortable
and bus system with exclusive lane and priority at junctions
(Bus Rapid Transit can carry 30,000 phpdt). Therefore in 2041
also a modern bus system will be able to meet the travel demand.
Special systems like those in Bogotá (Columbia) already carrying as many passengers as metro systems
(40,000 pphpd).
Metro is a
desirable option for high density corridors and with long trip
length (more than 14Km). City where average trip length is less
than 4-5 km and maximum traffic demand estimated by the year
2041 is 30,000 phpdt, does not justify metro. Even if part
financing comes from the central government, the state will have
to spend at least Rs.100 crore per km. Later metro operations
will have to be subsidized. DMRC claims operational profits
because it gets getting electricity at concessional rates, DMRC
has been given land development rights and excise duty waiver on
imported equipments. It is carrying 20% of the original
estimated trips. (From the report of Prof (Dr) Geetam Tiwari,
Transportation Planning, TRIPP Chair Professor, Transportation
Research & Injury Prevention Programme, Indian Institute of
Technology (IIT), Delhi) |
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23 January 2008
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