BRTS: PMC likely to face probe

In the report,the committee recommended an inquiry at the state level to fix responsibility and take action against the guilty as irregularities and illegalities cannot be ruled out considering the expenditure incurred corresponding to the work done and its poor standards.

The committee has pointed out that there has been a lack of proper planning for execution of the project due to which there was inconvenience to the public. There was tremendous opposition from the local population to this project,the report said,adding that it was expected that the project would reduce the troubles by streamlining traffic and avoiding accidents but there were accidents.

The project should be executed from the point of view of making it convenient and profitable to the public and the committee recommends that the committee be informed expeditiously of the action taken.

“The project has failed because of absence of planning and we had been bringing it to the PMC notice since the PMC took up the project. We also have a record of a meeting where the then Commissioner assured that IIT (D) had certified the report prepared by the PMC but he did not have the certification in writing. This was in response to our urging him to prepare a proper DPR because the report prepared by the PMC was not a DPR,” said Maj Gen S C N Jathar (Retd) of Nagrik Chetna Manch.

“The PMC should return the funds received by it under the JNNURM to the state and Union governments. Else,it will be misuse of public funds. The PMC councillors are equally to blame because they knowingly continued to sanction funds when BRTS was not actually coming up on the ground,” he said.

The BRT pilot transportation project was implemented on 17-km route Katraj-Swargate-Hadapsar under the JNNURM. The Union government approved the project for Phases I and II at a cost of Rs 103.35 crore and the work commenced in August 2006.