The Urban Development Ministry has given in-principal approval to implement the Regional Rapid Transit System (RRTS) in the NCR.
The RRTS will be implemented across three important corridors — Delhi-Gurgaon-Alwar, Delhi-Sonepat-Panipat and Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut.
The Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath had urged the National Capital Region Planning Board (NCRRPB) to explore innovative funding mechanisms, including exploiting transit-oriented development potential, monetisation of land and PPP model for implementing these capital-intensive projects.
“High speed connectivity between the regional centres of NCR and Delhi will make the physical distance shorter and allow these regional towns to capture the economic impulse and density generated by New Delhi. The RRTS should be integrated with the Delhi Metro. The faster connectivity will reduce pressure on the national capital’s infrastructure by opening up the regional housing market,” said Nath who is also the chairman of NCRRPB.
The minister emphasised on the need to focus on the sub-urbanisation process and infrastructure development outside New Delhi to enable other areas of the NCR to absorb the load on the capital’s resources.
Nath asked the NCRPB to take lead in planning and developing Greenfield townships across the transport corridors in partnership with the concerned state governments. “NCRPB should explore the possibility of drawing from its world-class experiences and best practices along with the technical assistance from the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank (ADB),” he added.
Laying emphasis on the implementation aspect of the project, Nath said, “NCRPB should be more pro-active in enforcing the policies prescribed in the regional and functional plans as these have been finalised in consultation with the participating states.”
He said that adherence of these policies by various central and state implementing agencies and NCRPB’s active role in enforcing them is necessary.
