Naidu: Public transport should take precedence over private vehicles

Venkaiah Naidu

New Delhi: Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu Friday expressed concern that Indian cities have been witnessing an "undesirable shift" from use of public transport to private vehicles and urged all stakeholders to work towards promoting multi-modal transportation system to reverse the trend. Addressing a gathering at an event here to mark 25th foundation day of the DMRC, he also asked Delhi Metro to focus on boosting last-mile connectivity for passengers. "In recent times, our cities have been witnessing an undesirable shift from use of public transport to private vehicles. The average two-wheeler and car ownership levels in metropolitan cities were 112 and 14 per 1000 population in 1994 and are expected to grow to 393 and 48 respectively by 2021," Naidu said.

This would mean 53 million two-wheelers and six million cars in the next 15 years in metropolitan cities, he added. Flagging the hazards of atmospheric pollution and concomitant health concerns, the vice-president urged all stakeholders in the transport sector to work towards promoting use of public transport. "Our cities need to increasingly focus on introducing multi-modal transit systems. Public transport should take precedence over personalised motor transport and every stakeholder should work in that direction," Naidu said. He cited examples of countries such as the Netherlands which has promoted public transport and facilitated use of cycles and other green modes of transport to ease pedestrians.

The event was held at Manekshaw Centre. DMRC chief Mangu Singh, Secretary, Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and Chairman, DMRC Durga Shanker Mishra, and Delhi Chief Secretary Vijay Dev were also present on the occasion. Mishra in his address said that currently about 657 km of metro network are spread across various cities in the country out of which 410 km have been made operational in the last five years. "About 802 km of network is under various stages of construction across the country," he said. On the Delhi Meerut Rapid Rail Transit System, he said, the distance of 82 km would be covered in 49 minutes spanning 16 stations.

"The work on it is underway. And, we are doing planning exercise for two other RRTS as well, Delhi-Panipat and Delhi-Alwar, and DPRs for these two projects are being made. We will very soon begin work," Mishra said. DMRC was registered on this day in 1995 and its first corridor measuring 8.4 km was opened in 2002. Delhi Metro's current span is 373 km and 271 stations, including the Noida-Greater Noida Aqua Line, and its average daily ridership is about 30 lakh. Naidu praised Delhi Metro saying it is a pioneer in metro network expansion in the country and a "symbol of the progress the country has made in the last few years". He also gave away awards to various DMRC employees. New Delhi Metro Station was awarded the best station rolling shield.

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