Title - Hooda bats for regional rapid transit system

Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda has proposed development of a regional rapid transit system along the Delhi-Gurgaon-Rewari-Alwar corridor to provide efficient and cost-effective transport for commuters.He made the announcement during a conference on “Smarter Cities: Transforming India, City by City” organised by IBM’s Smarter Cities Forum in Gurgaon on Thursday.Mr. Hooda said Haryana had facilitated construction of housing, commercial, industrial and institutional spaces on the one hand, and created and revamped civic facilities on the other. The state-of-the-art infrastructure, industry-friendly policies, responsive administration, peaceful law and order conditions and abundant skilled manpower had made the State a preferred investment destination among domestic and foreign investors.Mr. Hooda said Haryana was a pioneer in implementing the unique public-private partnership model for urban development under which the State Government develops the basic infrastructure and private players develop colonies for residential, commercial, industrial and other uses.“We are making concerted efforts to build quality infrastructure in all towns of the State. Our towns, especially those in the neighbourhood of Delhi, are becoming more and more attractive for residential and professional purposes. Steps are being taken to improve transport and communication facilities between Delhi and Haryana. Gurgaon is already connected to Delhi by the metro and efforts are on take the metro to Faridabad, Bahadurgarh, Sonepat and Panipat,” said Mr. Hooda.

Earlier, IBM India managing director Shankar Annaswamy said we must keep in mind the most important factors of transportation, energy and public safety as we develop our urban cities.

Mr. Hooda’s media adviser Shiv Bhattia, Gurgaon Deputy Commissioner P. C. Meena and Gurgaon Police Commissioner K. K. Sindhu were among those present.