After ORR, GHMC to lease out bus shelters

HYDERABAD: After wasting six precious years, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) has now decided to reduce the modern bus shelters from 833 to 411 and execute them under Public-Private Partnership (PPP) mode.

The corporation has already invited bids for the project. According to officials, the bus shelters will have facilities such as free WiFi, modern public toilets, anytime water kiosks, FM radio, comfortable seating, and proper lighting, as well as a provision for electronic streaming of bus timings and routes. The shortlisted agency must maintain the bus shelters for a minimum of 10 years, with the option of an additional five years if the requirements are met.

Following the instructions of Municipal Administration and Urban Development (MAUD) minister K.T. Rama Rao, the GHMC and Administrative Staff College of India (ASCI) officials toured New Delhi in 2016 to study the modernisation of the city’s existing bus stops. He also asked them to identify shelter-less bus stops and their locations so that modernised bus stops could be built in various locations throughout the city.

Against this background, GHMC, ASCI, and RTC officials conducted a joint survey. During the survey, officials discovered 833 bus stops without shelters throughout the city. The construction of modern bus shelters in 2019 has caused a rift between the civic body and the Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited.

The metro officials claimed that building bus shelters would impede pedestrian freedom of movement and cause traffic congestion in several locations.

On the other hand, civic officials claimed that identified locations to construct bus shelters would be ideal for assisting commuters. Even the traffic cops were unimpressed by the construction of new bus shelters. They approached corporations and asked them to halt the construction of modern bus shelters at 150 locations immediately.

According to civic officials, the traffic police raised few objections to the construction of bus shelters, claiming that it would cause additional congestion. However, the corporation undertook the construction of 826 modern bus shelters in 2019, as well as the refurbishment of old bus shelters, in the same year through PPP mode.

Bids have been finalised with private developers for three of the four packages on a Design, Build, Finance, Operation and Transfer (DBFOT) basis. The civic body announced in May 2021 that the construction of the bus shelters would be completed in six months. The corporation even entered into 15- year agreement with private agencies such as Prakash Ads and Uni Ads. The project was only partially executed.

According to a top GHMC official who requested anonymity, the corporation has already invited bids for the project to build 411 modern bus shelters. He stated that the bidder should pay a minimum of Rs 5 lakh and that the shortlisted agency would enter into an agreement with the corporation to determine advertising revenue.