Delhi govt given more time to complete BRT study report

A bench of Acting Chief Justice A K Sikri and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw gave more time to the government accepting its submission that CRRI needed more time to complete its work.

The counsel also submitted an interim report about the trial run on the BRT stretch and said the complete report would be submitted after the trial agency submits its study report.

Following the bench's earlier order on a public interest litigation, the CRRI launched a trial run for mixed traffic vehicular usage of the BRT corridor between Ambedkar Nagar and Moolchand last week.

The court was hearing petition by a civil society Nyay Bhoomi, filed through its founder B B Sharan, who pointed out to the court that there are over 73 lakh vehicles on Delhi roads, in comparison to 32,000 buses.

According to the petition, for smooth traffic movement on the 5.7 km Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridor, the government should not restrain vehicles other than the buses to ply on the bus lane.

The petitioner had pointed out that most of the time the bus lane remains free with the situation on other lanes, meant for cars and other vehicles, remaining chaotic and the people getting stuck in jams for hours.

Meanwhile, the bench expressed its displeasure over the conduct of the petitioner who had "illegally" removed a divider on the corridor during the trial run last week.

"Who permitted you to remove it? We asked you to participate during the trial run with CRRI but don't be a boss there...," the bench said.