CHENNAI: After adopting the Non-Motorised Transport Policy, the city corporation is taking efforts to implement the same on the 470 Bus Route Roads (BRR) in the city, in the next couple of years.
“The NMT policy would be implemented on the 470 Bus Route Roads in the next couple of years,” Vikram Kapur, Corporation Commissioner, let on while delivering a seminar on ‘Inclusive Urban Prosperity’ organised by the Madras Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Monday. “The move would create wide, continuous, and accessible footpaths to promote walking and cycling in the city. We are also planning to introduce a bus transit system,” he added.
The initiatives to promote non-motorised modes of transport closely follow the Corporation creating street design guidelines called the Chennai Street Design Manual (CSDM). This will include design templates for streets of various widths and a multi-dimensional classification system (including factors such as land use, street character, access to public transport and more) to ensure that streets across the metropolis meet the basic design requirement. The CSDM will include minimum standards and design guidelines for footpaths, cycle tracks, bus rapid transit and other street elements.
Kapur stated that the parking management plan will be put in place shortly. “We are roping in private players who will provide smart solutions,” he said adding that there was a need to think of in situ development, so that the livelihood of slum dwellers was not lost.
He also said that the government at the Centre was yet to come out with a clear policy on ‘Smart Cities’. “Right now we are at the planning stage. The Centre and the State government are deliberating on the issue,” he said.
Gora Mboup, Founder and president of New York-based Global Observatory Linking Research and action (GORA), however, stressed on the need for mixed neighbourhoods rather than classifying the city into different areas for the rich and the poor. Ajith Kalyan, environment specialist of National Institute of Urban Affairs, New Delhi, on the other hand, said that 14 per cent of city’s wealth is generated by the urban poor, who are the main contributors of local enterprises.
The Chennai Street Design Manual will soon have: