ToxicsWatch
Alliance (TWA)
To
Shri Veerapa Moily
Union Minister
Union Ministry of Petroleum &
Natural Gas
Government of India
New Delhi
Date: September 30, 2013
Subject-Wednesday as public
transport day, a praiseworthy step
Sir
This is to express our appreciation
for announcing that you, the officials of your ministry and the Public Sector
Undertakings (PSUs) under the ministry will travel by public transport once a
week starting Oct 9, 2013 in furtherance of one of the five missions of the
Ministry is “to promote fuel conservation, clean & green fuels and
development of alternative sources of energy”. It is indeed a praiseworthy
step.
We submit that infrastructure and
space for walking and cycling should get even more priority than public
transport.
We demand that besides Wednesday
every Sunday should be declared a Free Public Transport Day as first step
towards making public transport totally free.
The public transport can be funded in full by means other than
collecting fares from passengers. It may be funded by national, regional or
local government through taxation. Several mid-size European cities and many
smaller towns around the world have converted their bus networks to zero-fare.
The city of Hasselt in Belgium is a notable example: fares were abolished in
1997 and ridership was as much as "13 times higher" by 2006.
We submit that zero-fare transport
can make the system more accessible and fair for low-income residents. Road
traffic can benefit from decreased congestion and faster average road speeds,
fewer traffic accidents, easier parking, savings from reduced wear and tear on
roads. It will lead to environmental and public health benefits including
decreased air pollution and noise pollution from road traffic. If use of
personal vehicles/cars is discouraged, zero-fare public transport could
mitigate the problems of global warming and oil depletion.
We submit that zero-fare public
transport to and from work is a necessary part of the work day, and is
essential to the employer in the managing of work hours. It is thus argued that
financing of public transportation should fall to employers rather than private
citizens. It can be an effort in the redistribution of wealth which is
accumulating in fewer and fewer hands.
We submit that the ministry should
take lessons from countries and cities which are care free. There are care free
places in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary,
Italy, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Serbia, Spain, Sweden,
Switzerland, UK and Channel Islands, Canada, Mexico, United States and many
other countries.
We submit that Copenhagen, one of
the most densely populated cities in Europe, in Denmark has successfully
transformed car parks into car-free public squares and car-dominated streets
into car free streets, over a 40-year period.
We wish to inform that in Paris,
France, the authorities ban cars from the Georges Pompidou Expressway along
Paris’s Right Bank into the Paris Beach for one month every summer since 2004
and converts it into a pedestrian refuge replete with a sandy beach, activities
including dance lessons, climbing walls, games, and swimming, and amenities
like beach chairs, cafes, misting fountains, and shady palm trees.
We submit that Village Homes in
Davis, California is designed to allow car-free movement with an extensive
system of pedestrian/bike paths, running through common areas that exhibit a
variety of landscaping, garden areas, play structures, statuary, with most
houses facing the common areas rather than the streets. The roads are all
narrow, curving cul-de-sacs without sidewalks which give them the feel of
village lanes; the few cars that venture into the cul-de-sacs usually travel
slowly.
We submit that the efforts made
elsewhere to provide space for walking and cycling besides public transport
merits emulation.
We suggest that your ministry should
come out with a mechanism to ensure that citizens and tourists visiting India
can travel every part of India by public transport. The ministry should publish
‘How to Travel in India by Public Transport’ manual and provide necessary
infrastructure for it.
We submit that the fuel conservation
drive which you have initiated to save $5 billion in oil imports is likely to
usher in a new culture wherein public transport will get the priority it
deserves. The oil import bill of about $145 billion and the consequent record
current account deficit is indeed a matter of grave concern.
We submit that you should consider
writing to all the District Magistrates to initiate steps to declare
‘Wednesday’ as a public transport day in all the districts of the country. All
the ministries of the Government of India and all the State Governments and
Union Territories should consider declaring ‘Wednesday’ as a public transport
day.
In view, of the above, we support
your appeal to all the central government ministries and state chief ministers
“to observe a bus day every week.” In this regard it will be germane to seek
the support of all the MPs, MLAs and MLCs.
Yours faithfully
Gopal Krishna
ToxicsWatch Alliance (TWA)
Mb: 09818089660
Web: www.toxicswatch.org
Cc
Shri
Kamal Nath, Hon’ble Member, Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA)
Shri
Sushilkumar Shinde, Hon’ble Member, Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs
(CCEA)
Mrs
Jayanthi Natarajan, Hon’ble Member, Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs
(CCEA)
Shri
Jairam Ramesh, Hon’ble Member, Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA)
Dr.
Farooq Abdullah, Union Minister of New & Renewable Energy
Shri
Prakash Karat, General Secretary, Communist Party of India (Marxist)
Shri
Suravaram Sudhakar Reddy, General Secretary, Communist Party of India
Shri
Sharad Pawar, President, Nationalist Congress Party
Shri
Sharad Yadav, President, Janata Dal (United)
Shri
Mulyam Singh Yadav, President, Samajwadi Party
Kumari
Mayawati, Chairperson, BSP Parliamentary Party
Cabinet
Secretary, Government of India
Secretary, Union Ministry of Petroleum
& Natural Gas
Chief
Minister, Government of Bihar
Chief
Minister, Government of Tripura
Chief
Minister, Government of Uttar Pradesh
Chief
Minister, Government of Tamil Nadu
Chief
Minister, Government of Punjab
Chief
Minister, Government of Goa
Chief
Minister, Government of West Bengal
Chief
Minister, Government of Madhya Pradesh
Chief
Minister, Government of Odisha
Hon’ble
Governor, Government of Jharkhand
Chairman,
Parliamentary Standing Committee on Home Affairs
Chairman,
Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance
Chairman,
Parliamentary Standing Committee on Personnel, Public Grievances, Law &
Justice
Chairman,
Public Accounts Committee
Chairman,
Parliamentary Standing Committee on Defence
Chairman,
Parliamentary Standing Committee on External Affairs
Chairman,
Parliamentary Standing Committee on Agriculture
Hon’ble
Members of Parliament
Comptroller
& Auditor General of India
Lt
Governor, Government of National Capital Territory of Delhi
Chief
Secretary, Government of Andhra Pradesh
Chief
Secretary, Government of Bihar
Chief
Secretary, Government of Chhattisgarh
Chief
Secretary, Government of Goa
Chief
Secretary, Government of Gujarat
Chief
Secretary, Government of Haryana,
Chief
Secretary, Government of Himachal Pradesh
Chief
Secretary, Government of Jammu and Kashmir
Chief
Secretary, Government of Jharkhand
Chief
Secretary, Government of Karnataka
Chief
Secretary, Government of Kerala
Chief
Secretary, Government of Madhya Pradesh
Chief
Secretary, Government of Maharashtra
Chief
Secretary, Government of Orissa
Chief
Secretary, Government of Punjab
Chief
Secretary, Government of Rajasthan
Chief
Secretary, Government of Tamil Nadu
Chief
Secretary, Government of Uttar Pradesh
Chief
Secretary, Government of Uttarakhand
Chief
Secretary, Government of West Bengal
Chief
Secretary, Government of Puducherry
Chief
Secretary, Government of Arunachal Pradesh
Chief
Secretary, Government of Assam
Chief
Secretary, Government of Manipur
Chief
Secretary, Government of Meghalaya
Chief
Secretary, Government of Mizoram
Chief
Secretary, Government of Nagaland
Chief
Secretary, Government of Sikkim
Chief
Secretary, Government of Tripura
Chief
Secretary, Government of Andaman and Nicobar (UT)
Administrator,
Government of Dadra and Nagar Haveli (UT)
Administrator,
Government of Daman and Diu (UT)
Administrator,
Government of Lakshadweep (UT)
Post a Comment