Bangalore Waiting On RITES

Even if we donot always understand the whats and whys of what they do, we have all heard of the B* organizations - BBMP, BDA, BCP, BMTC, BMRC & so on. Now meet RITES, the Dilli based consultancy arm of the Indian Railways. Many of the B* orgs' projects depend on it. To begin, RITES' Imtiyaz Ahmed is authoring The Comprehensive Traffic & Transport Study (CTTS). Being a current and comprehensive survey of things as they exist in Bangalore, it is not hard to imagine why the BMTC depends on it for its Bus Rapid Transit project, the BCP for its traffic management projects, and the BMRC for its route selection for mono and metro systems. Though the survey part of the study is complete, its prescriptive parts were dependent on the CDP and awaiting cabinet approval. It hangs in this status for close to a year now. Apart from this, RITES is also the general consultant for namma metro, is responsible for the design of the critical bypanahalli terminal and will possibly go on to be the consultant for mono. But the TOI is reporting that the RITES is in trouble. It is facing a 30% attrition and consequently projects are piling up. The effect of this is being felt on the B* projects dependent on CTTP, and it would be a real dampener if RITES' troubles trickle to BMRC consultancy projects too. A CTTP type study is critical to Bangalore & perhaps needs to be done every so often, with a dedicated and focussed attention to Bangalore. RITES' attention is not focussed on Bangalore. While working the CTTP, the same person was working on projects in Mysore and Chennai. If so many of the B*s depend on a study like CTTP, shouldn't Bangalore consider forming a permanent local body that is responsible for it with dedicated focus for Bangalore? Also Read: Bangalore Metro Round-Up July 18 Consultants Bring Rigor to Metro