ITDP's BRTS - Hyderabad's Loss, Ahmedabad's Gain

This could have been Hyderabad's for the taking but this has now been implemented with aplomb in Ahmedabad!

Why did we lose out on such a environmentally friendly, cyclist friendly and pedestrian friendly project which caters to a city's culture, history and geography, keeping in mind futuristic urban planning, keeping in mind the majority of citizens who are poor or middle class unable to afford motorized vehicles, a project which costs peanuts compared to the much touted 'largest' PPP (public private partnership) the Hyderabad Metro Rail ?

The answers to the above incredulous questions are not simple but clues lie in the words 'politics, corruption, land-grab'.

Answers also lie in lack of foresight, lack of love for one's city on the part of those responsible for making such decisions. Development is a word that is thrown at you, Employment is another. No matter if in the process a throbbing, lively, perfectly functioning, clean and beautiful city will be converted into a graveyard of construction, more traffic jams, pollution, unaesthetic, unappealing and an eyesore for the benefit of a chosen few WITH NO LONG TERM BENEFIT vis-a-vis a BRTS which is, to reiterate, CHEAPER, FASTER, EASIER, HEALTHIER......

‎"Hyderabad is as tough place. We spent year there, came
close starting a BRT program.The guy who was BRT champion went on to become metro MD(NVS Reddy). Commissioner and Principal Secretary moved out . The Principal Secretary (urban) of AP became Principal
Secretary (urban) of Gujarat and actively supported the BRT program in
Ahmedabad!" from senior management in ITDP

"I was working for ITDP in 2003, we had convinced Hyderabad to build a BRT system. A few months later, they dropped the idea of BRT, political reasons, and decided to go with the Metro project, ITDP decided to work with Ahmedabad they have today a world-class BRT" another well-wisher from Colombia

What we need is to introspect, if there is an alternative proposed, if people are opposing, if urban planners, professors, heritage activists are appalled, can we do a better job, can we improve efficiency, make it cost-effective, resolve harmoniously, cater to some reasonable demands?

Metro is good, we are not anti-Metro per se but can we please have the Lines where they are most needed? Where the new businesses are, where the new educational institutions are not in the centre of the city, which is already, readily, happily, accessible to those who choose to go there (definitely not those who spout the Metro Mantra, they dare not leave their precious 'Hills'), we need connectivity in the OUTSKIRTS, is that so hard to understand that Hyderabad is NOT DELHI? We do NOT have a CBD (Centre Business District) a la Connaught Place, so can you please not plonk the same silly plan on us, we THE PEOPLE, thank you. Oh, and by the way, how come NO ONE has seen those plans and you run scared of RTI applications (Right to Information), what are you HIDING??

It is as simple as that. Else, who is this project for if not for the people?

Let us not get into right now the fact that Hyderabad has a wonderful local light train ALREADY IN PLACE called the MMTS, which needs a few extra tracks, more trains, good connectivity and it is good to give any Metro a tough chase! Despite approval of its second phase now this wonderful resource lies wasted.

To encounter the eerie silence on this legitimate protest from major newspapers like The Hindu, from the High Command, from the High Court, one would wonder what is the nexus that lies therein?

Are we a nation governed by robots since only humans have the capacity to conscientiously THINK?

http://www.itdp.org/index.php/our_work/detail/ahmedabad/