Officer who changed the face of Bangalore public transport honoured

Though Tripathy,who has been the face of BMTC from 2003 to 2008,is a Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Minority Affairs,he still feels passionately about urban transportation in India and feels that it is high time the country integrates city planning with its transit needs. His argument — once the city is “spoiled”,it becomes difficult to address issues of transportation as it will require more energy,resources and time. For him,the buzzword is “preemptive action”. Besides,he believes that it is time to concentrate on smaller cities as they are expanding fast and their transportation needs are growing.

“We should move before most of the Indian cities are thoroughly spoiled. We should take a holistic view on ways to improve urban transportation and act in a speedier manner. Perhaps a law could be effective,” he told The Indian Express after receiving the award.

Though the BMTC has grown from strength to strength,the 1980 batch IAS officer of Karnataka cadre believes that the success story can be replicated in other states with a healthy mix of different modes of transport. “Each city is unique. We cannot have a general formula. The planning has to be city specific. How much of metro,mono and general transport is needed and how much area of the city can be devoted to transportation differ from city to city,” he said. Under him,the BMTC recorded a dip in accident rates,posted the highest fleet utilisation of 94 per cent,increased its fleet strength and started registering profit.

With nearly three decades of experience,the 52-year-old civil servant who brought about many revolutionary changes in the BMTC including introduction of high-end Volvo buses,equipping the fleet with GPS tracking device and electronic ticketing machines,also feels that too many civic authorities are also a handicap sometimes. “That is why I said integration is an absolute must. All arms of the Government should work closely to upgrade urban transportation system,” says Tripathy.