As the election season is coming closer,the political parties have again started showing their concern for the civic issues,as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has now demanded to wind up the Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS) for its total failure. The party office bearers have opposed this public transport system saying it was forced on the Pune citizens and was a total waste of money worth Rs 78 crore.
Demanding to wind up BRTS project,BJP will now be holding agitations at several parts on Pune-Satara Road on February 17 between 4 pm and 7 pm and will also form a human chain on February 22 at 10 am.
Addressing newspersons on Friday,city unit general secretary of BJP Yogesh Gogawale said,The BRT project has been started in the city with a political motive. Congress forced it upon the citizens and we have wasted huge money on the project,which has claimed no less than 27 lives so far. Hence our demand is to wind up this fatal system completely.”
He further said that if the civic administration does not budge,the agitation would be made stronger. The civic administration and the police officials will be responsible for the consequences, Gogawale said.
BJP corporator Ujwal Keskar said,Irrespective of what other political parties thought,BJP had always remained firm in opposing the BRTS project from the very beginning. The project was hastily implemented by the civic administration at the insistence of Congress,without a detailed project report (DPR). Initially,the Shiv Sena supported us. Later on,things went exactly opposite,but BJP always remained opposed to it.
Now the civic administration is planning to implement BRTS on 27 other routes in the city,even though the pilot project itself is a total failure and that the civic body had promised not to implement it till the time it becomes a success, Keskar said.