This refers to the Lunch with BS with Dinesh Mohan (“One for the road,” April 3). It has been mentioned in the article that the research institute, Research Designs and Standards Organisation (RDSO), under the railway ministry employs some 20 people. This statement is so off the mark that one wonders about the veracity of other observations made by the transport expert. RDSO is a 60-year-old organisation that employs about 2,700 people. Last year alone, it completed no less than 45 research and design projects based on extensive background study and trials (see Annual Report Indian Railways 2010-11). Publication record of research work is of lesser relevance compared to actual implementation and execution of research-based findings, as any transport specialist in the country would insist. Hence comparisons with China and Brazil in this context are meaningless.
As far as energy efficiency comparisons between the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridor and the metro are concerned, what is more important for a country like India is the extent to which automobile or two-wheeler owners move over to mass rapid transit systems to reduce congestion, emissions and road fatalities — be it to the BRT or the metro. This, in essence, should be the focal point of all policy planning and administrative action to control the chaos on Indian roads.
Kalpana Dube Lucknow
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