Civic body plans to insure BRTS properties

According to Deputy Municipal Commissioner (finance) U C Padia,this is the first time the AMC will be insuring its immovable properties.

The insurance would be taken up as and when various phases of the project are launched,he said.

Even now,at quite a few junctions like Dharnidhar Derasar in Vasna and Valinath Chowk in Memnagar in the first phase of the project,discontent is simmering among locals over the closure of the junction points. This,they said,could possibly lead to violence.

A BRTS bus shelter is very sophisticated. All the control panels,electronic ticketing machines,swipe machines are expensive equipment and need to be protected against damage and theft,besides loot. As such,a proper insurance cover will prove beneficial.

At present,the AMC plans to get 60 odd bus shelters insured as and when they come up. Incidentally,the buses are the responsibility of the private operator and in any case,they are already insured.

In the past,the Ahmedabad Municipal Transport Service (AMTS) fleet and terminals have been target of public rage during agitations like Navnirman (1973),Anti-Reservation (1980),besides the communal riots of 1985,1992 and 2002.

Over the decades,such conflicts caused damage to moveable and immoveable properties running into Rs 4 crore,according to senior officials.

But the fleet was not insured until the introduction of CNG buses in 2006,which had to be insured due to technical compulsions.