The government is preparing mobility plans for 500 cities having a population of more than 100,000 people, Shankar Agarwal, secretary – Urban Development, Ministry of Urban Development, said while addressing the inaugural session of the CII International Conference on Mass Urban Transportation in New Delhi.
As part of the scheme, the government has taken up 500 urban habitations where it will work to improve infrastructure, roads, urban mobility, drinking water supply, digital connectivity, sanitation and sewerage, as mentioned in the Budget for 2014-15.
Of the total cost entailing for the renewal of these cities, up to 50 per cent will be provided by the government to prepare a Detailed Project Report (DPR).
Agrawal said one of the key focus areas would be setting up Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) across cities.
“India has to choose an urbanisation model that is congruent with low energy consumption. Already, fuel consumption on motorised vehicles is expected to reach 175 million tonnes by 2021 compared with 70 million tonnes in 2011,” said O P Agarwal, director general, Institute of Urban Transport while highlighting the need for integration of not only different transport subsystems but also land use and transport planning.
The conference was also addressed by experts like Dr Jason Chang, director – Advanced Transport Research Centre, National Taiwan University, Dr Ramachandran, former secretary – Ministry of Urban Development, Professor H M Shivanand Swamy from Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology (CEPT) University, among others.
Meanwhile, President Pranab Mukherjee proposed the launch a new Urban Development Mission to support states by handholding them in building infrastructure and services in line with the rapid pace of urbanisation.
(Edited by Joby Puthuparampil Johnson)
