HC transfers PIL against BRT to another bench

Deferring to September 10 the final arguments on a PIL, a bench of Acting Chief Justice A K Sikri and Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw transferred the matter to another bench saying "this matter needs an urgent hearing and it is not possible for this court hear and grant relief urgently."

Justice Sikri is likely to be elevated as Chief Justice of Punjab and Haryana High Court soon.

The bench was to hear today the final arguments on the PIL, filed by NGO Nyay Bhoomi, after the Central Road Research Institute's(CRRI) survey report criticising the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridor here.

The Delhi government, however, opposed the CRRI report saying, "The government needs to analyse the report. Any interim order of this court will have an impact on the nation-wide BRT project.... The entire project in the whole country will go haywire."

The CRRI in its report to the Transport Department has said, "The result of the experimental trial run conducted on the corridor (Ambedkar Nagar and Moolchand) reiterated the fact that allowing other vehicles to ply on the earmarked lane for buses yielded better benefits for the road users compared to BRT situation."

"The trial run scenario in 2015 will reduce the total travel time and stop delay (time spent at red-lights) by 39 per cent and 58 per cent respectively," the report also said.

According to the PIL, for smooth traffic movement on the 5.7 km Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridor between Ambedkar Nagar and Moolchand, 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.