Almost a year after the Centre gave the Rajasthan Government the green signal for the Bus Rapid Transport System (BRTS)—a low-cost, high-quality public transport—for Jaipur, authorities are set to issue work orders for the first phase of the project. With financial bids from qualified bidders to be opened soon, the work is expected to begin by the second week of September. The Union Ministry of Urban Development approved the draft plan for BRTS in Jaipur under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) in September last. The state Government has proposed a Master Plan of 138 km with the development of a BRTS corridor along a 42-km network in the project’s first phase.The project cost for developing the road infrastructure has been estimated at Rs 469 crore, while Rs 150 crore will be needed for procurement of low-floor modern buses. The Centre, state Government and the Jaipur Development Authority (JDA) would jointly fund the project. Secretary of the Local Self Government Department Manjit Singh said work orders would be issued by the first week of September. “We are all set to begin work on the BRTS project. Work on the first phase would be completed by December 2008. By next September, 60 buses would be operational,” said Singh. The JDA has identified four segments for developing the corridor in the first phase. All segments originate from the Government Hostel in the heart of the city. The project would be implemented in the state capital within the next three years. The 42-km network for implementation of the project has been identified in eight interconnected corridors with about 4 km as an elevated section in phase one. The BRTS will be suitably at grade with an estimated carrying capacity of 25,000 people per hour per direction (pphpd). It is estimated to increase the modal share from 20 per cent to 40-50 per cent with 500 new buses. The first phase would cover 7.1 km between C-Zone to Panipech, for which the Rajasthan Government has carefully drafted the map.“We have ensure that there is no plot of land with encroachments or private plots acquired by the Government for the first phase. The land, where the work will begin should belong to the Government, so that we do not face any major barriers,” said Singh.
