‘Fare hike is killing Metro rail’
Arvind Kejriwal has pointed out that 300,000 commuters opting out of the Metro Rail due to a steep fare hike has added to worries over pollution in the national capital
NEW DELHI: The chief minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal, has pointed out that 300,000 commuters opting out of the Metro Rail due to a steep fare hike has added to worries over pollution in the national capital.
Kejriwal, who had been vehemently opposing the fare hike, tweeted, “That many passengers have taken to other means of tpt, thus increasing pollution n congestion on roads. Metro fare hike has not benefited anyone.” “Delhi Metro should even now give up its rigidness and roll back its fares with irst concrete evidence showing it lost three lakh commuters on the very first day it implemented the unjustified hike,” the chief minister tweeted.
“This steep hike in metro fare will kill Delhi Metro. If people stop using it, then what purpose does it serve?” Delhi had been struggling to check high air pollution, part of which is due to emission from vehicles. Kejriwal had in fact requested the Delhi Metro authorities to trim fares so that more people can access the service and keep their vehicles home.
At the same time, the Centre justi-f ied the hike and said passenger drain is not due to it. Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri claimed that the fare hike effected in October was necessary for maintaining “eficiency.” The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Housing and Urban Affairs told the media that despite the increase, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation’s (DMRC) fares were among the “lowest in the world” and the “lowest in India.” “On previous occasions of fare increase, there were at times temporary dip in ridership which recovered shortly. Ridership in November has shown a rising trend,” the union minister said.
Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi Party government had confronted the Centre over implementation of the second fare hike. The hike eventually went through, with the Centre arguing that the recommendations of the fare fixation committee can’t be overturned or deferred.
According to a reply received in response to a Right to Information Act (RTI) query on Friday, Delhi Metro witnessed a massive dip of more than 300,000 daily riders in October as compared with the previous month. Such sharp fall was unprecedented and appears to be linked to the fare hike in October.
DMRC on Oct.10 implemented the second phase of fare hike after the irst round of hike in May this year.