Surat: When Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) was launched with much gung-ho in January 2016, it was touted to be a comfortable alternative for commuters as Surat never had a decent city bus service. Another objective, rather an ambitious one, was people leaving home their cars and switching on to public transport.
But two-and-a-half-years down the lane, BRTS has turned out to be one of the blackest spots in this otherwise glittering city of diamonds and riches. Since January 2016 when buses started rolling in the dedicated routes, there have been 83 accidents that have left at least 31 people dead. One of the prime reasons being: audacious resistance of a huge population to traffic rules.
With burgeoning number of cars and two-wheelers coupled with roads cramped due to dedicated BRTS routes in many areas, large number of citizens are looking for a freeway to avoid traffic snarls. Despite crystal clear rules not to enter the BRTS lanes, these are free for all and one of the major causes of families losing their near and dear ones.
In areas like at Sitaram Chowk, Sarthana Nature Park and Kosad Road, roadside vendors are using BRTS route to carry out their daily business. People hopping in and out of the lanes for shopping have made them into accident hotspots.
“We forcibly remove the encroachers, but they return the very next day,” said Kamlesh Nayak, assistant commissioner, SMC.
Swing gates that were installed to stop vehicles from entering the BRTS lanes have been broken by people at many places, leaving police and Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) just twiddling their thumbs.
Looking at the fatalities and utter lawlessness in BRTS lanes, Surat barely has any trappings of becoming India’s first ‘Smart City.” In fact, Surat has the highest number of projects being implemented under the ‘Smart City Mission.”
If BRTS is proving to be facilitator, there is also a deep sense of unease among the people because of the accidents.
“We have been constantly appealing to people not to drive on BRTS lanes, but in vain. Penalties too failed as a deterrents,” said an officer of SMC.
Sitanagar Chowkdi