After Ahmedabad,it is Surat’s turn to get BRTS

Ahmedabad-based Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology (CEPT) has prepared a report for the project,which will be financed by the Government of India (50 per cent),the Government of Gujarat (20 per cent) and the Surat Municipal Corporation (30 per cent). The project was envisaged following a promise by Chief Minister Narendra Modi a couple of years ago.

The Public Works Committee of the SMC on Tuesday approved an expenditure of Rs 228 crore for second corridor of 19.7 km from Dumas Road to Sarthana Jakaat Naka. Earlier,it had approved an expenditure of Rs 78 crore for the 10.2km-long corridor of Surat-Navasari Road.

Tenders for the first corridor are to be awarded shortly,while for the second corridor,it will be invited in a week or so,said H M Shivanand Swamy,the project head,CEPT.

The CEPT report on the project says the second corridor from Dumas Resort to Sarthana Jakaat Naka will be via Udhna,Magdalla Road,South Gujarat University and Anuvrat Dwar. The route will be along the canal. It will have picnic spots,restaurants near bus shelters and a bridge connecting two destinations.

Dipak Africawala,chairman of the SMC Public Works Committee,said this was a major decision in the history of the civic body. Africawala and other SMC members had visited five cities abroad before finalising the transportation model for Surat. He said the SMC budget had a provision for funding the civic body’s share in the project cost.

The cost projection for the second corridor is Rs 259 crore against the Rs 228 crore approved on Tuesday. The project should not take much time as the second corridor does not involve shifting of underground utilities,said Shivanand Swamy.