From: qaneez.sukhrani [mailto:qaneez.sukhrani@gmail.

com]
Sent: 22 March 2015 18:06
To: 'Chief Minister office'; 'mla.girishbapat3@gmail.com'; 'sec.ud2@maharashtra.gov.in';
'kunal.kumar@punecorporation.org'; 'pmcmco@gmail.com'
Cc: 'Sudhir Jatar'; 'prvnpardeshi@gmail.com'
Subject: Recommendations for constituting a probe & scrapping of BRTS Pilot Project Katraj depot-Swargate-
Hadapsar corridor

Kind Attn : Shri Devendra Fadnavis – Chief Minister Maharashtra

: Shri Girish Bapat – Guardian Minister for Pune
: Mrs. Manisha Patankar – Secretary UDD, State of Maharashtra
: Shri Kunal Kumar – Commissioner Pune Municipal Corporation

Sub : Recommendations for constituting a probe & scrapping of BRTS Pilot Project Katraj
depot-Swargate-Hadapsar depot corridor

Dear Sir,

Nagrik Chetna Manch demands that :

1. That an comprehensive enquiry be set up in view of report released by the Estimates
Committee of Maharashtra Legislature in Nov 2011 (attached) highlighting the failure of pilot
BRTS and called for a comprehensive enquiry at government level to probe the possibility of
irregularities and illegalities considering the expenditure of Rs. 134.75 crores incurred during
execution of the project so that action could be taken against those responsible.
 Needless to add, no such enquiry was set up, as RTI applications have revealed. Subsequently
the authorities have spent a further Rs. 200 crores to canabalise this public transport project in
the median and replace it with two flyovers & one grade separator in it’s place.
 Police records has evidence of accidents & fatalities that have occurred as a result of this Pilot
BRT Project started in 2006 despite usage of such huge amount of public funds.

2. Hence PMC must scrap this mess that is supposedly called Pilot BRT which is a symbol of bad
practices
 and has only resulted in the public becoming averse to the very concept of BRT.
 To rectify errors committed in the past, there is nothing wrong in admitting that the governance
& administration at that time took some very detrimental & hurried decisions on the Pilot BRT
which resulted in this mess
 Currently commuters are at high risk since the bus shelters / stops in the median are in shambles
and at most locations are non-existent.

All the ground realities given in our communication to the Commissioner on 1st October 2014 still stand
true and in fact the situation on this corridor has worsened 10-fold.
Hence all the recommendations submitted by NCM in our letter of 1st Oct 2014 must be scrutinised for
action to be taken without further delay so that safety measures can be put in place and prevent loss of
life & limb.

Our demand has been made keeping in mind two very important decisions taken in the past few days :
(a) that you have ordered a probe to take action against those responsible for the delay in making
the Wakad pedestrian underpass under NHAI ready (attached article refers)
(b) that the Delhi government has taken an important decision to scrap the BRT corridor in Delhi
due to numerous failures on project planning to implementation & execution (attached article
refers)

Please do not hesitate to contact or call Nagrik Chetna Manch for any further clarifications.

Thank you.

Qaneez Sukhrani
Convenor BRT Cell - Nagrik Chetna Manch
Cell # 9822056782 / 8975856782

From: qaneez.sukhrani [mailto:qaneez.sukhrani@gmail.com]

Sent: 01 October 2014 16:19
To: 'kunal.kumar@punecorporation.org'
Cc: 'Sudhir Jatar'
Subject: Recommendations on BRTS Pilot Project Katraj depot-Swargate-Hadapsar depot

Kind Attn : Mr. Kunal Kumar – Municipal Commissioner, PMC Date : 1st October 2014

Further to our deliberations and the BRTS “Concept & Features” document handed over to you on 27th
Sep 2014.

In order to retrieve PMC’s lost sense of ownership and responsibility while executing projects, given
below is a synopsis of Pune’s Pilot BRTS Project Katraj-Swargate-Hadapsar, which is indisputably a
total failure keeping in view the vision and objectives of the National Urban Transport Policy 2006 and
detailed guidelines issued by MoUD:

Synopsis of the BRTS Pilot Project

PMC did not submit DPR as per MoUD guidelines. PMC submitted a DPR merely for
‘financial’ approval for Rs. 20.00 crores. The final cumulative cost of the incomplete so-called
 Pilot BRTS is Rs. 134.75 crores as on Jun 2014.
Before preparing the so-called DPR, there was no pre-feasibility or feasibility reports
due to which the corridor selection went awry.
Even after the so-called completion in 2010, the Pilot BRTS does not have a completion
certificate.
Out of the total corridor length of 16.5 kms, 4 kms is through the Pune Cantonment and
3 km is occupied by the Seven Loves flyover/Dhobi Ghat. PMC has coined the term ‘m ix ed B RTS ’
for stretches where it has failed to have dedicated busways due to wrong planning. This goes
against the basic concept of continuous uninterrupted dedicated bus lanes, which is the very
bedrock of a BRTS, making PMC the laughing stock in industrial circles.
Planning for the stretch Hadapsar-Swargate of 7.7 km was done by IIT, Delhi, which did
not take into consideration the 4-km portion passing through PCB. The remaining stretch was
designed ‘in-house’by PMC based on the IIT methodology.
Currently the median of Pilot BRTS is dysfunctional because of construction of two
flyovers, one grade-separator and two subways.
Intermittent segregated lanes are the biggest hurdle to safe movement of traffic because
of entry into mixed traffic lanes from high speed dedicated lanes and vice versa, causing
bottlenecks and conflict between BRT buses and other modes. Unauthorised entry of
personalised vehicles in BRTS corridors adds to the dangers.
Pedestrians suffer the most because dedicated pedestrian crossings for median busways
do not exist and subways and grade separators infringe on basic human rights of pedestrians for
safe, smooth and unhindered walks. Footpaths (pavements), which should be exclusively for
pedestrians, are taken over by hawkers, vendors and vehicle parking.
Therefore in barely 4 years, PMC has wholly rendered useless the mass transit project
after spending Rs. 134.75 crores of public funds only to make way for flyovers that do not either
support / promote public transport or non-motorised transport
The Estimates Committee of Maharashtra Legislature released a report in Nov 2011
highlighting the failings of pilot BRTS and called for a thorough probe into the irregularities.
In May 2014, PMC conducted a Safety Audit for the stretch Swargate to Katraj Depot,
which highlighted 68 adverse remarks on safety issues. No Safety Audit was conducted for the
balance 10.4 km from Swargate to Hadapsar (out of which 4 km is in cantonment & 3 km is the
Seven Loves flyover / Dhobi Ghat).
PMC has not complied with any of the stated recommendations.

NCM Recommendations

 NCM ’s recom m endations encapsulated below , after conducting a site visit on 10 th M ay

2014 W ith the M ayor, w hich has been ignored hitherto, m ust be seriously considered and
actioned.
 P ilot BRTS is a sym bol of bad practices because of total disregard to global and GoI -
specified B RT standards resulting in com plete lack of safety to the citizens.
 As the P ilot B RTS has never been as per standard specifications and the flyovers and
grade Separator already constructed and under construction (again at the cost of m any m ore
hundreds of crores of public funds) have destroyed w hat little is left of the B RTS, Nagrik Chetna
M anch suggests that until com pletion of the flyovers, the entire Hadapsar-Sw argate-K atraj
stretch be throw n open to all traffic in the interest of safety.
 P M C needs to ow n up the reality that flyovers encourage the use of personalised
transport and discourage P T and NM T because flyovers do not cater to their requirem ents and
ideology.
 The im m ediate need is to scrap the P ilot B RTS and open it for all vehicles in the interest
of safety for all concerned
  Finally and not the least im portant, P M C should reconsider w hether the ex perim ent of
m edian BRTS lane has succeeded and in future try out BRTS lanes on the sides for safety and
security of com m uters, pedestrians and cyclists.

Please do not hesitate to contact or call Nagrik Chetna Manch for a meeting for any further
clarifications.

Thank you.

Qaneez Sukhrani
Convenor BRT Cell Nagrik Chetna Manch
Cell # 9822056782 / 8975856782