New Delhi, May 31: In a relief for commuters, city government was on Wednesday directed by Delhi High Court to allow all vehicles to ply on the lane reserved for buses on BRT corridor till it passes the final order on a PIL seeking opening of the stretch to all vehicles for smooth traffic movement.
The court asked the government to continue with this arrangement made by by the Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) during the experimental trial run of Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridor between Ambedkar Nagar and Moolchand from May 12 to May 23 till it decides the issue.
“The arrangement which was made during the trial run was smoother for the traffic...,” a division bench of Acting Chief Justice A K Sikri and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw said and posted the matter for July 18.
The court's direction came on the plea of Nyay Bhoomi, an NGO, seeking to reinstate the vehicle movement on the BRT corridor which was stopped by the government after the experimental trial run by CRRI in which all vehicles were allowed to ply on the lane meant for buses.
Referring to interim report of CRRI which was filed after trial run, the NGO said CRRI in its report had also given its nod to continue with the trial run arrangemnet on BRT corridor.
CRRI in its report had said that the experimental trial run has proved very effective, almost all vehicles crossed during one cycle, there was no traffic jam and commuters took a sigh of relief.
“The concept plan has received excellent response from the travelling public as well as appreciation by print and electronic media,” said the CRRI report. According to the NGO, on May 16 the court had left it to the discretion of CRRI about the period up to which the trial run should be continued, and the road research institute has clearly stated the need for continuation of the same to transport department.
“In spite of clear recommendation of CRRI, the Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System (DIMTS) Ltd has reverted to the previous system of movement from 24 May 2012. This has again caused great hardship and inconvenience to the public as before and the same is also not as per spirit of the court order,” said the petitioner.
Seeking continuation of the arrangement, the NGO said that the productive time of the people is being wasted due to long commute time on the corridor.
Following the bench's earlier order, the CRRI had conducted the trial run for mixed traffic vehicular usage of the BRT corridor between Ambedkar Nagar and Moolchand.
The court was hearing petition by the NGO, filed through its founder B B Sharan, who pointed out to the court that there are over 73 lakh vehicles on Delhi roads in comparison to 32,000 buses.
He said the lane meant for buses remained free but the commuters on other lanes were stuck in traffic jam for hours.
