Moving with the times ; Every city of more than three million people needs a metro immediately.

Urbanisation should be encouraged. That is one way of benefitsreaching larger sections of the people. China is encouragingurbanisation, so that a larger part of its population can be coveredwith limited resources. Having said that, we have to tackle the manyproblems of urbanisation such as adequate civic amenities, housing,water supply, drainage, lighting and so forth, too.

Public transport, on which a city's economic activity and sociallife depends, is one such problem. Recently the Planning Commissionset up a Committee on Urban Transport - of which I was Chairman -for the 12th Five Year Plan. We have recommended that in every citywith a population of more than two million, we should start planninga metro service in two years. Metro has a large carrying capacityand is very energy efficient.

The cost per kilometre of carrying a passenger is only one-sixthor one-fifth that of a road transport system. And a rail-basedsystem is fast, viable, safe and comfortable.

We have also recommended that the cities with a population ofmore than five million should immediately have a metro system.Fortunately, all of them have already started work, exceptAhmedabad, which is still in the detailed project report stage.Cities with a population of three million must also have a metrosystem immediately. In cities with a population of 500,000 to onemillion, we have proposed only a large number of public buses, whichthe government should subsidise. In all cities, the metro or rail-based system will be the backbone of public transport. But we willstill need a bus system.

The biggest problem today is that road-based public transportsystems are running at huge losses in most cities. The DelhiTransport Corporation's, or DTC's, subsidy from the government is Rs3 crore a day - more than Rs 900 crore a year. I am sure that iswhat the DTC will ask for this year. It has bought a lot of bigbuses, which are not always packed to capacity. There is heavytaxation - 30 to 33 per cent of the cost of running a bus system istaxes. When you purchase a bus, you are taxed; when you register thebus, you are taxed; fuel is taxed, everything is taxed.

The government thinks it is getting revenue, but it is likekilling the goose that is laying golden eggs. Today, a city likeDelhi must have 25,000 buses in addition to the metro. It isessential to bring down the number of private vehicles, with lots ofdisincentives. But before you place a disincentive, you must providean alternative.

We have to bring huge investments into urban transport. A non-fungible urban transit fund, which also does not lapse, can becreated by the state governments and the central government. Out ofthis, allocations can be made for metro, road transport, roadimprovement, etc. It is very easy to raise this money, providedthere is political will. We have estimated that metro systems in allthe cities would require Rs 1.5 trillion (one trillion equals100,000 crore), and we have suggested ways to raise nearly Rs 2.5trillion. Our basic approach is to tax polluters - cars, autos, etc.We have also suggested a green tax on vehicles currently on roads.

We can also plan light or medium metro systems in other cities.The capacity of Delhi Metro, a heavy metro, is 90,000 PHPDT, or peakhour, peakdirection traffic. Light metro has a capacity of 25,000PHPDT. Medium metro - with a 45,000 to 50,000 PHPDT capacity - isbeing planned in cities such as Chennai and Bangalore. And we needto keep provisions for expansion. If a line gets congested, buildanother parallel line and siphon away the traffic. That is how everycity in the world has done it. As the city grows, the network shouldexpand. The Delhi Metro Rail Corporation, or DMRC, is also bringingMaglev technology to Delhi. Its carrying capacity is the same asthat of a light metro, but the operating cost is 30 per cent less.We want to try it on the six-km Najafgarh to Dwarka line first, andperfect it there so that it can be used in other areas.

Cities planning a metro should first choose the route correctly:go first where there is maximum traffic demand. Second, they shouldjudiciously decide whether it is to be elevated, underground orboth. Remember, underground metro costs three times as much as anelevated system, the operating cost is 50 per cent more, andsecurity risk is five-fold. Third, the metro should be completed intime, without cost overruns, otherwise it will be financiallyunviable. Finally, it should operate economically.

The author is Managing Director of Delhi Metro Rail Corporation(as told to Alokesh Bhattacharyya and Anand J