CHENNAI: Residents along the Old Mahabalipuram Road who successfully stalled a Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) project on their stretch a few years ago are now warning communities along the Pallavaram-Thoraipakkam Radial Road where Chennai Unified Metropolitan Authority (Cumta) has proposed a similar project, to look carefully before they accept it.
The Federation of OMR Residents Associations (FOMRRA) says BRTS is a failed model and many Indian cities including Pune, Delhi, and Visakhapatnam, have all dismantled their BRTS corridors within two to five years of launch.
When the government proposed BRTS on OMR in 2018-19, FOMRRA attended the citizen consultation and opposed it pointing to design flaws, poor planning and what it called a “cut-copy-paste” detailed project report. “We also pointed out that Metro Rail was already sanctioned for the stretch, making BRTS a waste of money,” the federation said. The project was eventually withdrawn.
FOMRRA has now asked Radial Road residents to examine the project parameters closely and take an informed call, adding that a simple web search on BRTS throws up critical analyses dating as far back as 2006.
The Radial Road proposal comes after CM inister C Joseph Vijay, during a recent review meeting, directed Cumta to study its feasibility. Cumta’s own comprehensive mobility plan also recommends BRTS on three stretches, including the Outer Ring Road.
Cumta, however, had its own reservations with officials saying they are wary of motorists encroaching on dedicated BRTS lanes when regular lanes get congested, a problem that has dogged BRTS projects elsewhere in India, and that such factors will be analysed before any decision is taken.