Hope for commute condition in U’khand to improve in future?

Dehradun: In Uttarakhand, local transport issues plague almost every city and there is a need to come up with innovative and futuristic solutions to improve the commute facilities. In this context, a few options have been explored by city planners although only time will tell whether they turn out to be successful.
An ambitious plan was earlier drafted by the government which included introducing pods and a metro rail network on the lines of the Delhi Metro.This project has now been ditched and the focus has shifted to building cable cars in cities like Rishikesh, Dehradun and Haridwar. Experts say that metro rail was never a feasible option for Dehradun or Haridwar. “These cities aren’t Delhi or Mumbai. Metro rail can become a success in cities which are big in size but in a city like Doon where the streets are too narrow and city size is small, it is not a viable option at all,” said Anoop Nautiyal, founder, Gati Foundation, a Dehradun-based think-tank.
Government officials say that cable cars have been chosen for the state keeping in mind their cost-effectiveness and suitability to the hills. “We realised that metro rail and pods are not feasible both due to the size of the cities here and also because these projects would have turned out to be too costly,” said urban development minister Madan Kaushik.
He added that the government’s focus is now to build at least three ropeways in the Garhwal region. “We are planning to have ropeways in Rishikesh, Haridwar and Dehradun. In Rishikesh and Haridwar, they will be built over Ganga river, while in Dehradun, the plan is to connect Jolly Grant airport to Purkal village by cable car,” he said. Tourism department incidentally has already proposed to build a ropeway from Purkal to Mussoorie which has been touted as ‘a game-changer solution’ to address the traffic jam and parking problems in the Queen of Hills especially during the peak tourist rush.
Officials say that the cable car planned from Jolly Grant airport to Purkal village will also help reduce traffic in Doon. “Tourists travelling to Mussoorie won’t have to come inside the city but can simply take the ropeway from the airport to Purkal village avoiding Doon’s traffic bottlenecks,” said an official.
There are also plans to introduce electric buses, making the bus stops interactive while developing footpaths in crowded markets of the city. “We have sanctioned over Rs 41.56 crore to introduce electric buses in the city while also sanctioning Rs 15.72 crore for interactive bus stops. Apart from this, a significant amount will be spent on developing the footpaths and walkways,” said Ashish Srivastava, vice-chairman, Mussoorie Dehradun Development Authority and chief executive officer, Smart City project.
Residents, meanwhile, say they are keeping fingers crossed that these projects finally help the city get rid of its traffic problems. “We have been hearing all about these projects but nothing concrete has happened yet. Still, we hope that the government will take necessary steps to improve the commute situation in the city,” said Ashish Singh, a resident of Sahastradhara Road.
This is the concluding part of our editorial campaign on local transport problems in Uttarakhand
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