Regd Office: ‘Ganpati’, S. No. 9/2, Ganpati Marg, Sector 24, Nigdi Pradhikaran, Pune 411 044.

Ph: +91 (20) 2765 6118

Maj Gen S C N Jatar (Retd) Col B F Chaudhari (Retd) Mr B D Sharma

President Emeritus President Secretary General
scnjat@gmail.com bfchaudhari95@gmail.com bdsharma3@yahoo.com
+91 99700 93533 +91 73049 02074 +91 98220 38075

Date : 25th October 2017

To : Shri Hardeep Singh Puri

Hon’ble Minister of Housing & Urban Affairs,

Government of India,

Nirman Bhavan, Roon no. 104-C,

Maulana Azad Road, New Delhi 110 011.

Sub : Request for immediate investigation & audit of BRTS Pilot & Phase 1 Projects in Pune

Dear Sir,

It is hoped that the Ministry is serious about investigation & audit of numerous projects under the
erstwhile JnNURM to gauge it’s ultimate realization and compliance in citizens’ interest as reported in the
Times of India article of 20th Sept 2017 (attached annexure *A*).

From 2013 to 2015, Nagrik Chetna Manch conducted a study of the BRTS in Pune while obtaining replies
through applications under RTI Act 2005. Thereafter, the ills afflicting the system were identified and
briefly are:

1. The first seeds of failure were planted when PMC refused to plan BRTS scientifically. This was
despite constant prodding from Nagrik Chetna Manch to follow industry norms and MoUD guidelines.

2. PMC gave the task of designing and planning a portion of Pilot BRTS (Jnnurm # PUN-001) and that
of preparing reports for Phase-I (Jnnurm # PUN-021) and CYG BRTS (Jnnurm # PUN-019) to IIT Delhi.
PMC submitted these reports to MoUD for obtaining financial approvals and not for technical
implementation of the BRTS. This meant there were no Feasibility Reports or DPR for BRTS, despite PMC
claiming otherwise.

3. Pune BRTS does not have dedicated busways, clear cycle tracks and footpaths in direct

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 Regd Office: ‘Ganpati’, S. No. 9/2, Ganpati Marg, Sector 24, Nigdi Pradhikaran, Pune 411 044. Ph: +91 (20) 2765 6118
contravention to NUTP 2006 guidelines.

4. Basic mandates of the Indian Roads Congress such as conducting a cost-benefit analysis have not
been carried out when building flyovers on the BRTS corridor. The flyover on Shankar Sheth road on the
Pilot BRTS does not have BRTS over it. The flyover at Magarpatta confounded the confusion at that
junction by destroying that part of BRTS. Flyovers at Swargate and Katraj buried the last vestiges of Pilot
BRTS. These flyovers do not have cycle tracks or footpaths, making them unfriendly to non-motorised
transport.

5. Several NGOs (led by NCM) urged successive Municipal Commissioners to prepare a plan that would
include branding, marketing, public education and outreach. These were not heeded by PMC.

6. PMC never made any mid-course corrections despite repeated warnings. It just pressed on,
committing one blunder after another, many at cost of lives being lost. Maharashtra Legislative Assembly’s
Estimates Committee scrutinised the Pilot BRTS in Pune and came out with a scathing report. Excerpt
(attached annexure *B*)

“..a number of citizens lost their lives due to traffic congestion. Some are disabled for life...low quality
work...faulty traffic signals...broken cables on roads..holes dug on roads etc but mainly lack of safety
measures... there is increased irritation to the citizens... Hence there was tremendous public opposition to
the project... The possibility of occurrence of irregularities and illegalities cannot be ruled out considering
the expenditure incurred on this project corresponding to the work carried out and its low standard.
Hence there should be a comprehensive inquiry at the government level to hold those responsible for the
illegalities and to take action against them”.
7. During 2013-14, as a consequence of repeated written warnings to PMC that they were misusing
public funds worth crores of rupees while executing a faulty public transport infrastructure, we wrote a
detailed letter dated 3rd March 2017 (attached annexure *C* & *D*) to Joint Secretary (UT) MoUD along
with a comprehensive analysis and photos on DVD. PMC, UDD Maharashtra and MoUD ignored our
warnings.

8. At this point, it must be noted that the Chairperson of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on
Urban Development took our grievances seriously and this was recorded on page 56 & 57 of the Report
2014-2015 presented before the Sixteenth Lok Sabha. However, no action was taken by the Central Govt.
on those adverse remarks.

9. Attached news articles of October 2017 (attached annexures *E*) are proof that public funds spent
towards BRTS has been a monumental loss. Since the Metro will follow the same route of fledgling BRTS.
And so these BRTS routes and structures (worth crores of rupees of public funds) will be scrapped
eventually. This proves beyond doubt that Feasibility or Detailed Project Reports (which would have given
a vision of at least 25 years) were never prepared in the first place. It was just a case of public money
being utilized irresponsibly and without vision by the ULB, State Govt. of Maharashtra as well as Central
Govt.

Finally we would like to state that if the concerned officers at MoUD had heeded and even investigated
the irregularities and mismanagement in the execution of the BRTS project as repeatedly pointed out by
us and more specifically on 3rd March 2015, the situation would have been completely different. And
crores of rupees of public funds would have been more sensibly and justifiably used.

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 Regd Office: ‘Ganpati’, S. No. 9/2, Ganpati Marg, Sector 24, Nigdi Pradhikaran, Pune 411 044. Ph: +91 (20) 2765 6118
However, there is still time and scope for the Central Ministry to swiftly move in and conduct a third party
audit. The findings will most definitely bring to book those responsible for using crores of rupees worth of
public money so irresponsibly.

We expect to have a reply from you at the earliest and within one month from date as to what the
Ministry intends to do.

Thank you. Sincerely.

Qaneez Sukhrani

Spokesperson - Nagrik Chetna Manch

Contact : Cell # 9822056782 / 8975856782

Address for correspondence : A/3 Hermes Drome CHS Ltd., S.No. 211/3/1B, Viman Nagar, Pune 411 014

Attached : as stated annexures marked *A*, *B*, *C*, *D* & *E*