'DNA' edit: Metro for Bangalore, thenga for Pune

Bangalore’s Namma Metro (Our Metro) has finally become a reality and is all set to be inaugurated on Thursday amidst much fanfare.

The first phase has 41 stations and two corridors of a total of 42.30 km, of which 8.82 km is underground. The cost of the project, launched four years ago, escalated from Rs10,000 crore to Rs11,609 crore due to delays. The metro will carry 40,000 passengers per direction per hour, with a capacity to transport 10.20 lakh passengers daily.

Punekars will inevitably compare the situation with Bangalore as Pune’s metro rail proposal has got entangled in red tape. The Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal corporations were joint partners in the original proposal, which was re-drawn after the PCMC withdrew from the project. While the PMC approved the proposal in June 2010 and submitted it to the state government, the proposal is yet to be forwarded to the Centre, in spite of assurances by chief minister Prithviraj Chavan.

Ironically, Pune had taken the lead in launching the BRTS (bus rapid transit system) in December 2006, but today, it is the BRTS in Ahmedabad which is in the forefront. For decades together, Pune’s politicians and policy planners have failed to address the crying need for mass transport in the city, forcing people to purchase their own vehicles. Consequently, Pune’s vehicular population has risen astronomically, adding to the stress, congestion, road accidents and fatalities.

The presence of the NCP and Congress leaders at the helm of affairs in Pune, the state and at the Centre has clearly not benefited Punekars in any way. How much longer should the common man suffer for want of a decent mass transport system?