Gujarat govt invites global bids to carry out
feasibility study on IPTS
Gujarat government has invited
global bids to carry out feasibility study on Integrated Public Transport
system (IPTS) for Ahmedabad. The bids have been invited as sequel to the
decision taken at the executive committee meeting of Gujarat Infrastructure
Development Board in October last. The government had at that time taken
a decision that it would fund the pre-feasibility survey for setting up
of Mass Rapid Transit sys tern (MRTS) in Ahmedabad. In contrast, GIDB
has now decided to take a holistic view and has sought to have an integrated
system of transportation, including buses, mini-buses, trains, light rail
transit system, mass rapid transit system, elevated rail system and other
possible transit system options. The consultant is also required to prepare
implementation plan including legal framework and documentation of the
recommended options.
According to the sources,
the executive committee in October had decided to constitute a steering
committee under the chairmanship of additional chief secretary, urban
development and home department. The committee was also to have secretary
(economic affairs), municipal commissioner - Ahmedabad and CEO of GIDB.
The committee will evolve the process of selection of a consultant to
go further into the matter.
It has also been decided
to cover Gandhinagar and the Ahmedabad Urban Development Authority (AUDA)
area like Bopal, Changodar and Bareja for survey work. This has been done
so as to incorporate the future transportation needs of Ahmedabad and
in these developing suburban areas. In
1995, the state government had signed MoU with Mukand Engineers to carry
out survey for the Light Rail Transit
system (LRTS), in collaboration with number of American Companies and
Gujarat Industrial Investment Corporation (GIIC). The proposed LRTS project
then was to create a 48.5 km rail network in a phased manner and was expected
to cost about Rs 1440 crore. It was also decided that if the feasibility
for setting up of such a project proved viable then it was to be implemented
in other cities as Baroda and Surat. Mukand Engineers at that time had
insisted that if the pre-feasibility and feasibility of LRTS were favourable
the project for setting up of LRTS should be granted to it. However, high-level
state government committee had at that tune decided that the feasibility
study would be partly funded by GLIC and that it would invite global tenders
after the completion of the study.
The cost of the study would
then be borne by the company selected for the project. The government
at that time felt that it had to subsidise public transport to a great
extent and LRTS being economically viable would reduce this financial
burden of the state. In the first phase some of the important arterial
routes within the city are to be incorporated and is expected to cost
around Rs 680 crore.
However, according to the
sources at Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation, it was found from the study
of Mukand Engineers that it would be difficult to have a uniform system
of building MRTS in the city, as the density and development of city has
been haphazard. It is perhaps for this reason that state government decided
in favour of having IPTS. The sources claimed that the cost of building
an MRTS on the lines suggested by this study came to about Rs 45 crore
per kilometer. Thus, by having IPTS can help reduce the cost substantially.
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Compiled from local news media
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