DMRC has suffered a huge loss during the lockdown in the last two years. In such a situation, the biggest question will arise about this program that who will pay the money for this scheme of free travel in peak hours? At the same time, this scheme can be criticized as a plan to distribute Revdi for free.
New Delhi. In Delhi, the Arvind Kejriwal government provided free travel facility to women in public buses. After the success of this scheme, it is now being said that the Kejriwal government should consider making metro travel free at least during peak hours. This is not a thought. In the year 2019, during the peak of the Kovid-19 epidemic, the Delhi government had announced free travel for women on the metro, but finally the scheme has been withdrawn after the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) objected.
In this case, DMRC said that the technology used in its ticketing system. It is gender neutral. This will make it difficult for the ticketing system to differentiate between men and women. Apart from this, DMRC has suffered huge losses during the lockdown in the last two years. In such a situation, the biggest question will arise about this program that who will pay the money for this scheme of free travel in peak hours? At the same time, this scheme can be criticized as a plan to distribute Revdi for free.
How much can it cost?
Now if we look at the cost, DMRC earned Rs 3897 from its traffic corporation in 2019-20. Let us assume that from 8.30 a.m. to 10.30 a.m. the peak hour of 5 p.m. to 7.30 p.m. accounts for 60 per cent. In such a situation, out of this Rs 3,897 crore earnings, Rs 2,338 crore will have to be put in write-off. On the other hand, due to the free travel of the metro during peak hours, private cars and taxis will not ply on the roads. The savings from that will make up for the deficit to a great extent. Carbon emissions will also be reduced.
Apart from this, another way is that a nominal tax can be levied on vehicles going to certain areas during peak hours to deal with the loss in revenue . A city like London is an example of this. In the Main Financial District of London, there used to be a lot of trouble due to heavy traffic earlier. Later, to deal with this problem, the London administration imposed a tax on vehicles coming in congestion areas. According to data from Transport for London, within a year after the imposition of this tax, there was a 15 percent drop in traffic in those specific areas.
Apart from this, the time taken to travel in that area was also reduced by 30 percent. The condition zones in which such taxes have been imposed in London today. There the traffic volumes have reduced by a quarter compared to a decade ago. In this way, the loss of Metro can be compensated by the tax levied on 40 lakh cars of Delhi entering a particular area. Delhi government can give this money to DMRC as compensation. The ultimate objective of this scheme will be to encourage the use of public transport and save the environment. This will ultimately benefit the Delhi Metro too.
Germany also took some such measures
According to a report by Bloomberg, when Germany reduced the prices of public transport tickets for a period of three months, during that time there was a reduction of 19 million tonnes in carbon dioxide emissions. The reason for this was that due to the cheap public transport, people started using their car. Let us inform that in this case, Germany had issued a monthly ticket of 9 euros, in which travel throughout the country can be traveled by regional trains, subways, trams and buses.
In Delhi also some measures should be taken
Any such remedy should be considered for a city troubled by the problem of pollution like Delhi. So that this city can get relief from pollution. In fact, the Delhi government has spent Rs 20 crore for setting up only one smog tower in Connaught Place. The range of this smog tower is quite limited. There is still controversy over the benefits of this. The Delhi government is contemplating to widen the roads, build all the underpasses, flyovers and foot over bridges so that the problem of traffic jams can be dealt with. None of these plans or measures is one that does not have its own cost and is not associated with the problem of carbon emissions. Public transport is being encouraged all over the world to curb carbon emissions.
Spain’s focus on public transport
Spain is one such country. Where there is a lot of focus on free or cheap public transport. The state-run company Renfe is also providing travel facility in short and medium distance trains. Apart from this, up to 50 percent discount is being given in the fare on the route on some high speed. Although one purpose of this scheme is to give some relief in rising inflation, but its bigger goal is to reduce fuel consumption and fight the problem of climate change.
Floods in Pak and Bangalore
On the other hand, if we look at the incidents of devastation caused by the recent floods in Pakistan and flood waters in the streets of Bangalore, then we come to know how big a disaster the climate change has come for us. The recent floods in Bangalore caused havoc. Thousands of crores of rupees were lost in just one day. In such a situation, the loss due to the convenience of traveling in the metro is a very minor amount. which can be compensated.
This may be the way to implement this plan, due to which pollution is increasing in Delhi. How much does it cost to reduce it? That should be considered. Then after this the fare which has been made free in Delhi Metro. Whether its cost can be made from the money coming to compensate for carbon emissions or not. Passengers will increase due to non-collection of fare in the metro during peak hours. This will reduce the number of private vehicles on the roads. This will also reduce carbon emissions.
