CCTV cameras on govt. buses soon

August 7, 2014

Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy has said that a process to install Closed Circuit Television Cameras (CCTV cameras) on government buses to prevent possible crimes against women is on.

Nearly 500 busses of the Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) have been provided CCTV cameras and more buses belonging to other transport corporations of the State would be covered shortly.

He was speaking to presspersons at Gurmitkal town in Yadgir district on Wednesday after inaugurating a bus terminus there.

The bus terminus has come up at a cost of Rs. 2.10 crore in 2.07 acres of land. In view of lack of transportation in rural areas, where people are forced to use private vehicles, Mr. Reddy said that the department has taken action to operate more buses.

Directive

Officials have been asked to continue bus services in such areas notwithstanding the fact that it may cause up to 40 per cent loss in daily earnings.

He said that bus services would be increased during school hours to ensure that students did not suffer due to lack of transportation.

To a question, Mr. Reddy said that work on a new bus terminus at Surpur town will be taken up shortly.

Earlier, inaugurating the bus terminus at Gurmitkal, Mr. Reddy said that work on a new bus terminus in Saidapur in Yadgir taluk and a bus depot in Kembhavi in Surpur taluk would begin soon, as officials have prepared action plan.

More than 4,000 posts, including 3,091 drivers-cum-conductors, 500 mechanics and 489 clerks, remained vacant. A recruitment process to fill these posts will begin shortly, he added.

Mr. Reddy said that 100 new buses would be allotted to Yadgir division, and of these, eight buses will be run between Yadgir and Gurmitkal.

It is part of steps to prevent crimes against women

 

Source:The Hindu

20-ACRE PLOT – DDA hands over Rohini land for DTC depot

August 4, 2014

 

The Times of India (Delhi)
New Delhi
Development Authority (DDA) has handed over possession of one of the three alternate sites to DTC for relocation of the Rs 60 crore Millennium Depot, which was built on the Yamuna bank area ahead of the 2010 Commonwealth Games.“Nearly 20 acres of land has been demarcated by the DDA in north Delhi’s Rohini, near Rani Khera area. We have handed over possession to the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) to begin with, for the relocation of the depot,“ a senior official in DDA’s land management department said. The department is still working out the payment options, he added.The bus depot, spread over nearly 50 acres along the western banks of the Yamuna, was built by the then Sheila Dikshit dispensation on a temporary basis.After petitions filed by environmentalists, saying the site was damaging the ecologically sensitive zone, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) took cognisance of the case and the matter went to the Delhi high court.In January , the former Kejriwal-led government had told the court that it would relocate the bus depot within nine months.

In May , DDA had told the court that it will be giving three separate plots, Rohini being one, to the city government for shifting the depot. “The depot is located in `Zone O’ (river plains) and there were demands for its shifting. A meeting was held at Raj Niwas to ascertain the status of the pending allotments to the DTC, where this decision was taken,“ DDA’s vice chairman Balvinder Kumar said. PTI

 

Source-http://epaperbeta.timesofindia.com/

Depots missing, so capital can’t buy more buses

July 30, 2014

Jayashree Nandi    New Delhi

DDA Delays Allotment Of Land

 Without public transport, Delhi may never be able to address its twin problems of air pollution and traffic congestion. But it has failed to meet its massive demand for buses simply because there aren’t enough depots.Millennium Park Bus Depot where 800 buses are parked will be moved in the wake of a high court order to relocate it from Yamuna riverbed. Meanwhile, Delhi Integrated MultiModal Transit System doesn’t have any parking space for 1,000 buses. Delhi Development Authority has not managed to allocate any land to them yet. After Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) came to power, the government decided in January to move the 50-acre Millennium Park depot to secure the Yamuna riverbed.“It’s a catchment area for water which cannot be meddled with,“ chief minister Arvind Kejriwal had said. But now delay in providing adequate space for buses by DDA has irked a section of environmentalists. Their stand is contrary to other activists who have been pushing for the relocation of Millennium Depot.

Environmentalist Sunita Narain feels bus depots should be prioritized over other issues. “The Millennium Bus De pot should not be shifted. A bus depot is needed; adverse impacts on the riverbed can be mitigated,“ she said. DDA has identified three places in Rohini Sector 4, Karkardooma and Institute of Driving Training and Research in Sarai Kale Khan. But relocation has been taking very long.

DTC officials claim that developing infrastructure in these three newly-allotted areas will mean massive investment in terms of both money and time.

Meanwhile, DIMTS has not been able to procure 1,000 air conditioned and non-air conditioned cluster buses as DDA hasn’t allocated any land to them.

“They have been promising it but nothing has been handed to us even though buses should be a priority . It’s time we should start looking at multilevel parking options for buses.
Delhi should also pay attention to safe infrastructure for bus stops and traffic calming measures near them,“ an official from DIMTS said.

DDA claims it doesn’t have enough land for bus depots.
“Allocating land to DTC for relocating Millennium Depot is taking long as we have to change land use. As for more land for DIMTS, we can only look for small patches of land–not big ones,“ a senior DDA official said.

Anumita Roychowdhury of CSE’s Clean Air Programme said, “It’s a very serious problem. Delhi has to find a way to share depot space efficiently and develop infrastructure like some depots in Bangalore so that more buses can be accommodated in them. We also need to explore efficient parking structures,“ she said.

Yet to get land for Millennium depot:DTC to HC

July 17, 2014

Express News Service

The depot was built on the Yamuna riverbed.EXPRESS
The depot was built on the Yamuna riverbed. EXPRESS

 

Nearly six weeks after the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) informed the Delhi High Court that the sites for relocating the Millennium bus depot had been finalised, the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) on Monday told the court that it had not been handed over physical possession of the land.

In a status report filed before the court of Justice V K Shali on Monday, the DTC said it had only been given a “paper titled as working permission on the land without the demarcation, allotment or physical possession of the said site in question”.

Giving details of the three sites proposed by the DDA, the DTC has said that due to lack of clearances, change in land use and the demarcation and actual physical possession of the land, the work at the sites would take time to begin.

The DDA, in an affidavit filed in May, had identified sites in Rohini, Sarai Kale Khan and Karkari More to shift the 1,000 buses and other equipment presently housed at the depot, which was built on the Yamuna riverbed. The High Court had directed the DTC to shift the depot from its current site within nine months.

The transport corporation has also alleged that the land that has been indicated for the depot in Rohini does not have any access road. “The land required for building the road leading to the site in question is today under the possession of the DSIIDC. Thus till date, the DTC does not have any approach to the proposed site,” says the report filed through DTC counsel Sumeet Pushkarna. Irked by the delay, the High Court has directed the DDA to hold a meeting within four weeks to “arrive at a settlement,” regarding the land allotment.

Environmentalist Anand Arya had approached the High Court, seeking contempt of court action against the Delhi government for failing to remove the Millennium bus depot within the period granted by the court in a previously decided case. The environmentalist in his plea had said that the construction was against the Delhi master plan and zonal plan for the river.

Source-http://indianexpress.com/

U.P. seeks funds for CCTVs in buses

July 17, 2014

Uttar Pradesh has sought Rs.30 crore from the Central Government to install CCTV cameras in 9,600 buses.

The State has sought money from the Nirbhaya fund, created in memory of the Delhi woman who was gang-raped in a bus two years back.

In a letter to the Union Transport Ministry, the State Government has said that incidents of crimes related to women needed to be contained in public transport. It proposed to install CCTVs along with digital video recording systems (DVRs) in its fleet of 9,600 buses running on State roads.

Officials say in case of an emergency such as molestation, the buses would be equipped with systems in which at the touch of a button, an alarm would be set-off at the transport head quarters and immediate action taken.

The State transport corporation also proposes to link this camera to the women’s powerline 1090, already functional in the State.

Mukesh Mesharm, managing director of the UP State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC), confirmed the proposal to the Central Government and said all buses of the State have been connected to a GPS tracking system.

He said they are awaiting sanction of the funds by the Union Transport Ministry after which the CCTVs would be installed. IANS

Source – http://www.thehindu.com/

Volvo bus inferno: NHAI debunks faulty road theory

December 13, 2013

TNN |

HYDERABAD: After the Volvo accident at Palem in Mahbubnagar district, fingers were pointed at the faulty road geometrics by various government agencies, including Crime Investigation Department (CID), during their preliminary enquiry.

However, to the shock of CID officials, National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) senior officials on Wednesday wrote a letter to additional director-general of police (CID) T.Krishna Prasad, asserting that the road design is ‘flawless’.

Credible sources in the CID told TOI that, in a written reply to it, the NHAI asserted this point.

The CID sought NHAI’s opinion to know if there was any defect in the road design, especially near the culvert, where the driver of Jabbar Travels bus hit the structure. Forty-five passengers were charred to death in the incident. “Project director, NHAI, Ramesh Reddy said that there was absolutely no fault with the culvert design or its construction,” the sources said.

Family members of the bus victims have been knocking on the door of every institution, including Lokayukta, demanding action against influential JC Uma Reddy in whose name the bus was registered. But she is yet to be questioned by CID officials.

Investigators said scrutinizing documents was almost done and soon Uma Reddy, bus driver, bus operator, ticket booking agents, RTA officials and others would be questioned. The RTA officials are likely to be investigated as there were 52 passengers against the actual seating capacity of 43+2.

 

Raids by transport officials reveal half the buses flout norms

November 5, 2013

By Express News Service – TIRUPATI

 A file photo of Tirupati RTO MSSB Prasad checking a fire-extinguisher in a private Volvo bus in Tirupati | Express photo

  • A file photo of Tirupati RTO MSSB Prasad checking a fire-extinguisher in a private Volvo bus in Tirupati | Express photo
The raids conducted by the transport department officials against private operators revealed how the private buses are flouting the norms.

First among the violations is that most of the private bus operators, who took contract carriage permit, completely violate the norm. According to the contract carriage permit, the operator should transport a group of passengers from one stage to a fixed destination without allowing any passengers in and out of the bus in the middle of journey between the starting and ending points. But, a majority of the bus operators pick up the passengers for filling up vacant seats.

Similarly, about 50 per cent buses operated to various parts from Tirupati do not have the prescribed mechanical condition and other tools like fire extinguishers. The norm of the presence of two drivers in long journey buses, more or less remained on the RTA rule books as no private bus plying between Tirupati and Hyderabad having such a facility.

“Hardly it takes 10 hours for reaching Hyderabad from Tirupati and we don’t think there is a need for additional driver,” said a private bus operator on the condition of anonymity.

When asked a transport department official over the violation of the norms by private bus operators, he said that they are limited to converting crime into revenue. “Following the mishap in Mahbubnagar district, we swung into action and are levying fine on private bus operators for flouting norms, which is nothing but using such incidents as a source of revenue generation.”

Saying that unlike the forest and excise Acts, the Motor Vehicle Atc (MV Act) does not have authority to confiscate the vehicles flouting norms, he added that as per the MV Act they are only permitted to seize a vehicle for violation and will have to release the same after collecting some money in the form of fine. But, in case of the forest and excise Acts, the question of releasing the seized vehicles will not arise, he said and sought such ruling in the MV Act. As the Volvo bus will will cost at least Rs one crore, no owner will dare to violate the prescribed norm as they don’t want to loose their vehicle, he observed.

Though, it is not at all a financial burden to place fire extinguishers and hammers in side the bus,  which are required tools in case of emergency, the operators adopt negligent attitude due to lack of serious punishment, said another official.

Admitting that the transport department is not in a stage to take up drives at regular intervals, the officials attributed it to the staff crunch. As we have to deal with office work like issuing licenses, registrations and other tasks, we are only limited to take such drives only on some occasions, they said.

When contacted the Tirupati regional transport officer (RTO) MSSB Prasad, he said that about 50 per cent of buses do not have required conditions as well as flouting the norms. Particularly, on weekends, private bus operators are plying unconditioned buses. To cash the passengers rush on these days, they are bringing up the substandard buses on to the roads playing havoc with the passengers lives, he said.

Stating that they are taking up raids on the private buses time to time, he said that they are going to organise an awareness meeting soon to drivers of private buses.

On the lines of flights, where the air-hostess explains the passengers about the emergency exits and availability of balloons and parachutes, the bus drivers should also explain the passengers about the emergency windows, hammers and how to use them during emergency before starting journey, he said adding that the proposed awareness meet is aimed to deal with such issues.

Source-http://newindianexpress.com

 

 

Now, ‘small bus’ service in Chennai

November 1, 2013

Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa flagged off the service with a fleet of 50 small buses.

 Reuters

Chennai: Tamil Nadu has launched ‘small bus’ service to connect suburbs with railway stations and bus stands in the city. Chief Minister J. Jayalalithaa flagged off the service with a fleet of 50 small buses.

Passengers will find the 27-seater small bus or mini bus an alternative to share autos and vans. To begin with the services will cover places such as Chromepet, Guindy, Vadapalani and Moolakadai. Jayalalithaa also launched 610 new buses to be operated across the State. The Chief Minister said the State Government has earmarked Rs 1,026 crore to buy 6,000 new buses and half of them have been purchased.

To meet the increasing diesel cost, the State Government will allot Rs 500 crore this financial year to the Transport Department as against Rs 200 crore last year, she said. The Department is finding new ways to generate revenue. For instance, it earned Rs 28.13 crore from advertisements displayed in buses.

The parcel service in buses earned Rs 44.21 lakh and highway eateries earned Rs 4.67 crore. At the function, she gave pension benefits to 25 retired transport employees and sanctioned Rs 257 crore of pension benefits to other retired department employees.

The State Government plans to set up a second water plant at Gummidipoondi for the Amma Mineral water scheme. Under the scheme, which was launched last September, one litre water bottle is sold at Rs 10 to passengers travelling in long distances buses.

Source-http://news.in.msn.com

Bus terminus to come up at Gandhinagar

October 28, 2013

TNN |

Kolhapur: The Kolhapur Municipal Transport(KMT) will construct a bus terminus and a commercial complex at Gandhinagar on the build-operate-transfer basis (BOT). The revenue generated from selling the space in the complex will be utilized to buy new buses.

The KMT is hoping to generate about Rs 1.25 crore per year from renting the shops in the commercial complex. “We can procure about 20 new buses from the revenue generated. The land at Gandhinagar is owned by the KMT and local traders had demanded to set up a bus terminus in the area. The total estimated cost of the project is Rs 1.77 crore, which has to be invested by the contractor and the work is expected to be completed in two years after the tender is issued,” said KMT additional engineer Sanjay Bhosale. The area of the land on which the bus terminus will be constructed measures 423.50 square metres.

Gandhinagar, situated 5km from the city, is famous for its trading centres for cloth. “Efforts to construct a bus terminus at Gandhinagar were started in 1999. However, the plan was stalled due to unknown reasons. The demand to start a bus terminus in the area increased with a rise in the population and a subsequent rise in the number of passengers. About 15,000 people travel from Gandhinagar to various parts of the city every day. The KMT will arrange for direct buses from Gandhinagar to different points in the city once the terminus becomes operational,” added Bhosale.

MSRTC to open terminus in Sangvi by October-end

October 28, 2013

Sarang Dastane, TNN

PUNE: The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) will set up a mini bus terminus in Sangvi in the next two weeks to decentralise movement of buses from its existing terminuses.

MSRTC officials here said that the new terminus would not only help reduce overcrowding of buses at the Shivajinagar terminus, but would also curb traffic congestion on roads adjacent to the terminus. The move will also benefit passengers in Sangvi, Pashan and Aundh, as it will cut down on travel time up to Shivajinagar to catch a bus.

In the initial stage, 36 buses to various cities in north Maharashtra, Konkan, Marathwada and Vidarbha will depart from the Sangvi terminus.

At present, the MSRTC operates buses from the Swargate, Shivajinagar, Pune station and Pimpri terminuses. Swargate has the largest daily operations, followed by Shivajinagar, Pimpri and Pune station.

A senior official from the MSRTC’s Pune division said, “We expect to start daily bus operations from the Sangvi terminus from October 20. Buses will have enough space for parking during night hours. As many as 36 buses will depart from here every day. We will provide platforms and passenger amenities such as sheds, toilets and a waiting lounge. Of the 36 trips, 34 bus trips currently leave from Shivajinagar and Pune station and will be shifted to Sangvi. Operations here will be increased depending on the initial response,” the official said.

The MSRTC also plans to start an advance booking facility for buses departing from the Sangvi terminus.

The official said shifting a part of the operations from Shivajinagar and Pune station was necessary; bus operations at both the stands had reached a critical level due to the increase in the number of trips and lack of space for further expansion. Many a times, buses have to be parked on roads, as drivers do not find space inside the terminus and depot, he said.

Sources said that the city traffic police department has written to the MSRTC administration to shift movement of some buses to the outskirts to ease traffic on city roads. The MSRTC official said that starting the new terminus in the outskirts was part of a plan to reduce the traffic burden in the city.

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