Better mobility is vote bait

BENGALURU: With an eye on the upcoming general elections, the ruling coalition has announced a slew of feel-good schemes to woo Bengaluru voters. But experts are sceptical of the road-rail-drain package.
To ease traffic snarls which continue to be a peak-hour feature, Kumaraswamy announced a mobility plan for Bengaluru, through which he intends to reduce the number of private vehicles by improving public transport.  

But, according to urban expert V Ravichandar, the government is constructing elevated corridors to increase the capacity of Bengaluru traffic. “With elevated corridors, there will be more private vehicles on the roads. The same amount should have been given to procure more BMTC buses and develop more footpaths. Corridors will just add more vehicles,’’ he said. The city has 93,000 roads stretching over 14,000km, and 70 lakh vehicles.

He said the smart public parking system was announced previously, but it didn’t work out. “We are not sure how they will implement it this time,’’ he said.Kathyayini Chamaraj, Managing Trustee, CIVIC, said the state government had announced 3,000 buses for all four road transport corporations. “We had demanded that Bengaluru alone needs 6,000 BMTC buses. Providing last-mile connectivity would encourage people to opt for public transport. The state government should have focused on this.”

She said it was good that Kumaraswamy announced the suburban rail in the budget. “They have placed many conditions on the Railways, which will delay implementation of the project. For example, when the Railways are ready to construct stations at 2km distance, the state government wants a station every 4km. The public has to travel 4km to access the nearest station. This will discourage them from using the suburban rail, and it will be a failure,’’ she said.

On waste disposal, Kathyayini said announcing the 4,000-tonne waste-to-energy plant, which will be centralised, goes against the High Court order directing that such plants need to be set up ward-wise, and not centralised.

Additional Chief Secretary (Urban Development) Mahendra Jain said that pedestrianisation and bicycle sharing would help make Bengaluru walker-friendly.The government has also given a big push to water supply and sewage water treatment. It has focused on Cauvery 5th Phase by taking financial aid from Japan International Cooperation Agency.