The City and the Metro: July 2010

Parisar organised a national level round-table “The City and the Metro”, held at Yashada, Pune, on 20th and 21st July 2010. Many cities in India are going in for Metro Rail systems in an attempt to address their transportation problems. Such systems are already in operation in Kolkata and Delhi with other cities in the process of building a metro system. In total, India is expected to invest Rs. 2 lakh crores (40 billion dollars) in Metro rail systems over the next 10 years. Presently a public debate is taking place in the city across a variety of issues about the proposed Metro Rail System being considered for Pune.

While cities appear to be readily approving metro rail projects, many concerns have been raised about them:

The transparency and accountability of governance systems involved in all aspects of metro rail systems – from deciding to have a metro all the way through to its construction and operation.
The treatment of metro rail systems as stand-alone systems rather than being a part of the larger urban transport system.
The lack of attention to planning that integrates land-use and metro rail systems, for better catchment, access, integration etc.
The lack of consideration of the impact of metro rail systems on the urban fabric including its environment, its architecture and its cultural identity and heritage.

The round-table was attended by participants from civil society, academia etc. from six cities. They shared the experiences of metro rail systems across many Indian cities and found many common lapses in the governance and planning metro systems. Based on the discussions, they arrived at a set of resolutions agreed to by all participant. These resolutions are being shared with the Government authorities at various levels in an attempt to address the many concerns that were identified.