NEW DELHI: Aiming to rationalise traffic movement in the capital by ending multiplicity of agencies in the transport sector, the Delhi government has decided to establish the Delhi Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (DUMTA). Once approved, bodies such as the Delhi Transport Corporation, Public Works Department, Transport Department, and Delhi Traffic Police will function under a single umbrella for their transport-related functions.
The Delhi government has also announced the creation of a 21-member task force to chalk out a strategy for the creation of DUMTA. Headed by the chief secretary, it will design the body’s framework.
Its key responsibilities include drafting a strategic mobility plan and ensuring effective coordination among state agencies, with recommendations to be submitted to the lieutenant governor within three weeks. It will also help draft a DUMTA bill for the Delhi Assembly.
According to a government notification, the additional chief secretary of the Department of Urban Development will serve as the member secretary of the task force. Its members will include the administrative secretaries of the departments of transport, finance and planning, and the Public Works Department.
The new body will also accommodate the vice chairman of the Delhi Development Authority, commissioners of the Delhi Police and the Municipal Corporation of Delhi, the tourism secretary, the chief executive officer of the Delhi Jal Board, and representatives from the National Highways Authority of India and New Delhi Municipal Council among others.