Pune police commissioner Amitabh Gupta Sunday reiterated that the closure of the BRTS (Bus Rapid Transit System) routes will help ease the flow of traffic in Pune. A few days ago, the police chief had written to the Pune municipal commissioner, urging him to open the three existing BRTS routes in the city to all kinds of vehicles.
“We have nothing against the BRTS… We want the best possible solution in the present circumstances vis-a-vis the traffic situation. In the present scenario, opening up the BRTS routes seems to be the solution to mitigate the traffic chaos,” Gupta told indianexpress.com. In his letter to the Pune commissioner, the police chief pointed out that BRTS routes were not being utilised properly and were only adding to the burden of traffic in the city.
At present, there are three BRTS corridors under Pune Municipal Corporation limits – one from Katraj to Swargate, another from Vishrantwadi to Sangamwadi, and the third from Nagar Road to Yerwada. The total length of the three routes is less than 20 km, said civic officials.
Asked whether the Pune police were seeking closure of all three BRTS routes, the police chief said: “Let the PMC come with a counter to my letter. They have told us that they will seek opinions on the issue.” A top PMC official said they were seeking expert, legal opinions on the issue.
Gupta said if one-third of the road is occupied by the BRTS while accommodating only two per cent of the vehicular population, it does not make sense to persist with it. “Most of the time, the BRTS routes are empty. They don’t even have much frequency on the routes,” he said.
The police chief said, “Some people are thinking about themselves. They are not sensitive enough about the traffic situation in the city. For instance, take the Metro service. It occupies a road patch on which the work is supposed to start two months later. And then for two months, the space is used for indiscriminate parking… causing traffic impediments.”
When asked if the PMPML (Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited) agreed with the police commissioner’s suggestion, PMPML chairman and managing director Omprakash Bokaria said they were not in favour of opening up BRTS routes for all kinds of traffic. “Instead ambulances, state transport buses, school buses, and police vehicles can be allowed to access BRTS routes,” he said.
Bokaria said the BRTS helps in the smooth movement of PMPML buses which, in turn, helps commuters reach their destination quickly. “We also plan to increase the frequency of buses,” he said.
Describing it as a ‘turf war’ between the Pune police and the PMC, civic activist Prashant Inamdar, who heads Pedestrians First, said: “This is a simplistic way of looking at the problem. It is not the first time that the Pune police have raised the issue with the PMC. It had happened earlier too. The PMC always said the police are not regulating the traffic properly leading to traffic jams while the Pune police highlight the inadequate infrastructure provided by the civic body. This is a turf war and is happening at frequent intervals.”
Pointing out that the BRTS was not being efficiently run, Inamdar said: “It is true that the BRTS is not being operated efficiently leading to questions over its sustainability. The PMPML keeps highlighting the number of people transported through the BRTS corridors… The BRTS routes remain empty most of the time. If PMPML runs buses every three-to-four minutes on the three routes, then there is no reason why the police would call for their closure.”
