HYDERABAD: MAUD Principal Secretary Arvind Kumar on July 23 said that Hyderabad’s public transport system is in store for a complete overhaul. “Only 33 per cent of the population uses public transport in Hyderabad on a daily basis, primarily due to non-availability of services.
In developed cities in Europe, the number is near 75 per cent. The goal is for Hyderabad to be on par with these cities. The MAUD is trying to improve public transport so that it is the preferred mode of transport for even those who are conditioned to using cars,” he said.
Kumar said that the idea of HUMTA (Hyderabad Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority), as per a provision in the HMDA Act, will be revived. “It will be an umbrella body for traffic and transport planning. It will take care of the Metro, road transport, public transport and private operators. HUMTA will also deal with long term traffic planning. We have identified an officer for the same,” he said.
The MAUD is currently looking at developing and improving last mile connectivity of the Metro, similar to that in Delhi. For this, Kumar said, ‘feeder’ e-buses could be introduced. “We can create 4-5 loops of routes at each Metro station, where medium size (12-16 seater) e-buses can be put to work. We are still examining if it can be free of cost for Metro users, so as to incentivise public transport. The World Resource Institute is helping us with the same,” said Kumar.
“Delhi recently tendered 500 e-buses. On similar lines, we need to overhaul our fleet. There is also a need for better coordination between buses and Metro, as they cannot act as standalone services. These are issues that HUMTA can play a major role in — to cover areas with no public transport at all, and the plan to take public transport usage to 40 per cent in the next two years,” added Kumar.
What can we expect?
HUMTA, an umbrella body to deal with all transport and traffic-related issues to be revived.
‘Walk to Work’ in new IT clusters
Light Rail Metro in new IT clusters and residential hubs in municipal corporations around Hyderabad
4-5 bus routes created at each Metro station to improve last-mile connectivity. Likely to be free for Metro users.
E-buses of mid-range capacity for some routes
On reducing wastage in water supply
Arvind Kumar noted that Hyderabad loses 21 per cent of its water during supply, even before it reached the consumer (non-renewable water). “One of HMWSSB’s most crucial tasks is to ensure NRW is reduced to 10 per cent in order to conserve water ahead of the summer of 2020,” he said. Kumar added that the amount of consumable water lost in Bangladesh was only six per cent. On the efforts being made to conserve water, he said, “We are trying to make recycled water available to all.”