J&K Govt to form UMTA to revamp Urban Transport projects in the state

Jammu, India (Urban Transport News): In a major decision to bring revolutionary changes to urban transport projects, Jammu and Kashmir Administrative Council (AC) has decided to form Unified Metropolitan Transport Authorities (UMTA) in the state. In a meeting chaired by Lieutenant Governor, G C Murmu, the council has given its approval to establish UMTA for the cities of Jammu and Srinagar as envisaged in the Master Plans of the two capital cities. "The sanctioned bodies will be headed by the Chief Secretary with Administrative Secretaries and officers of the key departments/ authorities impinging on transport and mobility, nominees of agencies of Government of India and independent experts as members. These new bodies will function as a part of respective Metropolitan Region Development Authorities created under the J&K Metropolitan Region Development Authorities Act, 2018," said in the official statement. "The decision is aimed at developing an advanced, well planned, and better-coordinated transport system in the capital cities by overcoming the dissonance arising from the multiplicity of existing agencies with their separate and at times conflicting policies under the guidance of National Urban Transport Policy, 2006," added in the statement. "Once functional, UMTA will secure the development of an integrated, efficient, modern, multi-modal mobility system including non-motorized transport with a focus on the movement of people and goods instead of vehicles.UMTA is also envisioned to aid policy formulation and regulation for undertaking integrated and holistic planning for transport services with associated infrastructure by focusing on coordination across different organizations, agencies, and management of common facilities nominated," it further added. It is pertinent to mention here that, the Jammu & Kashmir state has planned to run Light Metro Rail projects in Jammu and Srinagar city. To implement the project Dr. E Sreedharan has been appointed as advisor for the project. Railway consultancy firm, RITES Limited has submitted the revised detailed project reports (DPRs) of the proposed Light Metro Rail Systems in twine cities and the approval of the same is received from the state government. It is now hoped that after establishing the UMTA these projects will receive a major boost.