UMTA should suit our needs
Highlighting the importance of setting up Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (UMTA), Dr M Ramachandran, Secretary Ministry of Urban Development, today said it should, however, be tailored to suit our needs.
Some of the state governments have already set up the UMTA's either on the basis of administrative decision as in cities of Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai and Jaipur or through a legislative process as in Hyderabad, Ramachandran said at a three-day workshop on UMTA here today. The actual implementation of UMTAs and how to make it more effective would however need some more clarity, he said "While there is a need for such a body, it is also important that we design this institution in a manner that best suit our needs and our situation", he said.
Stimulus package announced recently for procurement of buses by states/UTs (urban transport bodies) under the JNNURM (Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission), imposes the condition of setting up of an UMTA, Ramchandran said. Under this package, 15,000 buses costing Rs 4,000 crore (out of which half will be funded by the Centre, 35 per cent by the state government and 15 per cent by the local bodies like BMTC) will be released in 60 cities in the next three months, he said, adding the first instalment of Rs 1,000 crore had already been released.
Similar reform condition is now being made mandatory for all metro projects as well. Ajay Kumar from the World Bank, which has been pivotal in organising the workshop, stressed the need to have UMTA in the context of "policy, functional, infrastructural and financial integration."
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