BRT corridor in sync with master plan, court told

New Delhi, April 18 (IANS) The city government Thursday told the Delhi High Court that the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridor was not in violation of the city's Master Plan 2021 that recommends such a system and also bars private vehicles in congested areas.

The government's response came on a petition filed by NGO Nyaya Bhoomi seeking the scrapping of the BRT corridor between Ambedkar Nagar and Oberoi Hotel alleging that it was against the Master Plan 2021 and causing inconvenience to public.

Filing a reply before a division bench of Justice Pradeep Nandrajog and Justice V.K. Rao, the government said the petition was factually wrong on the width or right of way (ROW) recommended by the plan on the stretch where the BRT corridor has been built.

The petitioner said the BRT could not exist on the stretch as the width of the road was not 45 metres, the minimum required by the plan.

The government's reply, filed by K.R. Naidu, deputy commissioner of transport department, said the recommended road width in the plan was 30 metres and not 45 metres for the "existing urban" areas through which the BRT passed.

The plan suggested that "on all roads with ROW greater than 30m, exclusive bus lanes will be planned to implement the BRT system in a phased manner to cover the whole city", the government said.

Filing a fresh plea, the NGO, whose earlier petition and subsequent review petition on the issue were dismissed by the court, said the court had granted the liberty to file the petition again if the BRT corridor violated the Master Plan 2021.

B.B. Sharan, the president of the NGO, said the master plan envisaged that there should be "optimal utilisation of road space and full development of right of way by removing all impediments, which has not been done in this case".

The court would next hear the matter July 29.