Hubballi: Project took 7 long years to materialise
HUBBALLI: The Hubballi-Dharwad Bus Rapid Transport Service (HD-BRTS) Company Ltd is a government project involving 13 agencies – five funding and monitoring agencies, two implementing agencies, one each for monitoring, operational, design consultancy, Project Management Consultant (PMC) for civil works, PMC for ITS works and a stakeholder – to build the dedicated bus corridor along 22.25km between Hubballi and Dharwad. Though both BJP and Congress claim credit for the implementation of the project, people had been holding Union minister Pralhad Joshi and district minister Jagadish Shettar responsible for the delay of over seven years. When HDBRTS Company, a state government undertaking, was registered under the Companies Act on May 7, 2012, it was said that buses will ply in two years. Though the estimated cost in the beginning was Rs 692 crore, it ended up at Rs 970.33 crore. With the assurance of safe, affordable and world-class bus rapid transit infrastructure and services, HD-BRTS work started in 2012. Land acquisition was the first hurdle for the ambitious project. However, elected representatives and officials cleared the hurdle amidst allegations of partiality in acquiring the land and the related pricing. Though promoting the participation of citizens in the planning process was one of the objectives, people were kept out. BRTS, which claims itself being environment-friendly, did not keep its word on planting saplings along the corridor. Another major miss is the use of Compressed Natural Gas (CNG). But BRTS escaped from this responsibility by saying the buses were ordered in 2012-13. It has adopted Euro-IV engine buses, which are already outdated in developed countries.
