OMR residents oppose BRTS, urge govt to improve existing facilities

After attending the public consultation held for the BRTS this week, Federation of OMR Resident Associations (FOMRRA) coordinators Prabha Koda and Harsha Koda said that the data presented on the mass transit planning and development studies associated with the OMR was based on an outdated 2011 report by Institute of Transportation Development Policy.

“We also found that very little data, especially in terms of vehicle numbers, had been updated and the figures quoted rarely matched with the data that FOMRRA had collected,” they noted.

Pointing out that there was no clarity on whether the six lane OMR would be reduced to four lanes if the BRTS implemented, the residents said, “Given the fact that OMR is owned and managed by TNRDC there was no clarity about the partnership between the two — the toll collecting wing of the government which promises six lanes plus service lanes for the toll collected, and the BRTS, which is going to reduce the available number of lanes to 4. Will this reduce the toll rates?”

As OMR residents, Prabha Koda and Harsha Koda said that “one size fits all” solution that could apply to any other part of Chennai cannot work in OMR because of its unique ecosystem. “What we require here is a supplementary feeder service that will enable citizens living in the interior areas to reach the central median of OMR —alignment of the new Metro Rail system.”

Noting that most of the “high-quality features” that the consultants were pitching like bus tracking, air-conditioned buses and stops, accessibility, etc, can easily be implemented in the current bus system itself, they said that just because the existing bus and metro system are not disabled-friendly, “we don’t go about building an entirely new system”. “We can solve these issues by strategically building ramps, escalators and elevators. The MTC has already announced that they will be making some buses on all routes disabled-friendly,” the residents said.

A senior official in the transport department said that the government would take the final decision on implementation of the BRTS after the submission of the detailed project report. “The public consultations were held as part of the preparation of the DPR. All the views given by thestakeholders will be considered while preparing the DPR by the consultant,” the official said.