JDA dithers on removing BRTS corridor

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Jaipur: With Ajmer Road witnessing massive traffic congestions every evening due to unauthorised parking on both flanks of the road, which lacks service lanes, Jaipur Development Authority (JDA) remains undecided about the financial implications of the dismantling of the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) corridor from this road. Residents of the area and commuters said the corridor’s presence and JDA‘s delay have made their lives harder.
“JDA has plans to remove the BRTS corridor to widen the main thoroughfares of Ajmer Road. There are plans to construct service lanes that can resolve the parking issues substantially. Despite budget announcement, JDA remains inactive on the plan, and residents and commuters are bearing the brunt,” said Rishav Goyal, a commuter on Ajmer Road.
According to JDA officials, sanction from the finance department to proceed with the dismantling of the BRTS corridor was received recently. They, however, said there are unresolved questions over whether the Union govt would recover a portion of the project cost from state govt for discontinuing the project. “We first need to strategise how we can replace this BRTS corridor. A few rounds of meetings and a few steps are still pending before we finally implement the measures to remove the corridor,” said a senior JDA official.
Residents and commuters rued the fact that several residential and commercial buildings, shops and restaurants situated on this road lack adequate parking spaces. Visitors’ vehicles occupy sizeable portions of both the flanks, covering almost half of the available space. “The 9-km BRTS corridor remains vacant as city buses are scarce in number. Other vehicles using the main thoroughfares take more than 45-60 minutes to traverse this 9-km stretch during peak hours, when the flanks become too narrow for the traffic rush,” said Benechand Jain, a trader commuting on this stretch regularly.