Journalism of Courage
Activist Ranjit Gadgil has urged Municipal Commissioner Mahesh Pathak not to cancel the public bicycle scheme (PBS) tender process as recommended by the civic traffic planning department.
In a letter to Pathak,Gadgil said the reason cited by the civic administration to cancel PBS has no logic and that it is in direct violation of the national urban transport policy,comprehensive mobility plan and the interests of citizens. Though the tender for the scheme has been floated four times,the difficulty in receiving the bids should be recognised,he wrote. It should be possible to get funds for expansion of the project in the future under JNNURM,he added.
He said if deemed appropriate,the project may be executed by the Non-Motorised Transport (NMT) cell as that would be the logical agency to manage the scheme.
Earlier,Sriniva Bonala,the traffic planning department in-charge had urged the civic chief to cancel the PBS tender process and transfer the proposal to NMT cell. The traffic planning department has no sufficient staff to implement the project. Also,the NMT cell is the right department to implement the project as it is dedicated for the issue, he had said.
