West Bengal

Dear Sir,


Sub: Urban administrators-challenge-Viable alternative Skybus
Ref: Your Letter No: TS-176/06 dt 21st March,2006 & Conference in New Delhi on 21st March, 2006

As a former senior bureaucrat-engineer-manager-inventor and scientist, my interest is purely public interest. (a one page profile you may glance through).
I have done enough presentations in my service, and making one more to you is not difficult. But, the concern and worry that quite a few senior persons who talked to me at the conference, makes me write this letter.
My wish is one of your smart men should take the leadership position to present & implement viable, safer transport solution to improve the urban habitat. Of course, my services are always available as needed to your state.
Please accept my suggestion. Choose & nominate a dynamic senior in cadre, committed team leader in your Government, whom you trust & directly dealing with the problem of Urban transportation, to meet me in Hyderabad, to spend about only three hours. I will utilize this time to convince him of the necessity to design transport product to suit people and how to avoid bending peoples’ interest to serve product sellers.

Technology should serve people, not vice-versa!

Metro transport solution should basically meet the fundamental requirements to serve people and not to tax them and destroy their livelihood and homes.

Please be bold and insist to demand your requirements; it is the job of engineers and technologists to evolve suitable design to meet your needs:

1. Only transport zone in the city, space above or below the road should be used- but with least occupation of the congested road, by the solution.


2. The city aesthetics concerns, noise pollution, should be adequately addressed. This can be achieved only if continuous fixed structure is at a height of not less than 9 to 10m range.


3. The access for people should be friendly and available every 500m , and one need not climb more than 6 to 7m as well as without need for another feeder system


4. The solution should not generate further congestions on the roads with sudden massive discharge/ ingress of commuters, but evenly spread to match with the walkways available.


5. The solution should be scalable for next 100 years, to carry light loads like 8000 pphpd to heavy 80,000 pphpd. And at high speeds of the order of 100kmph.


6. The solution should address the cargo movement requirement of the city too, as well as the transport requirement for house keeping functions of the city.


7. Not a single building nor any occupied land be demanded in the city for setting up the solution.


8. The system should be free from climatic disruptions and be capable of working in floods/snow.


9. Credible disaster management arrangements should be demonstrated.


10. The safety of not only the commuters on the train, but also of the road users who are not using the solution, should be guaranteed through third party international accredited safety certifiers.


11. The solution provider shall not expect any subsidy nor grant from the government. The solution should be financially viable from the fare box collections.


12. Concession period will be negotiable from 10 years to 30 years, with performance assurance in the form of bank guarantee, with presentation of their solution in detail, to be completed within 3 years- will form the parameters to choose the DBOT( Design, Build, Operate & Transfer) through open bidding process. State should only provide the traffic data along the route, the work done by accredited responsible traffic survey consultants.


13. The DBOT operator will be required to price his service to compare with existing modes of transport and shall not be given preferential treatment by the state, to control other modes, to favour him. A regulator on the lines of TRAI, of state will provide for any relief if needed by the DBOT operator.


14. Thus the State will not act to promote any particular, technology at the cost to public interest, but will be people centric and protect only the public interest, thus making technology to be evolved to serve people.


15. The state has to provide the legal framework of Tramway Act and rules made under the act, to allow the DBOT operator to get the commissioning safety certificate formally issued by a state nominated Safety Commissioner, based on the safety certificate issued by a reputed accredited international class safety certifiers.

I am not a salesman for the Skybus technology- although it is my invention; but all rights of royalties go to the people of our country and my effort is solely in public interest. You will be surprised to know that all the above requirements are met only by our country’s invention Skybus technology, which is pre-certified, - and not by any of the imported technologies.

My sincere advice to you is to send a sincere committed senior officer who can think of public interest- I am prepared to spare my time without any charges. In about three hours I will give all necessary materials and training inputs to your officer, so that he/she may correctly face the Urban decongestion challenge, and be a leader & implementor. Then this officer can explain or do the necessary presentation to the superior decision making authorities in the State. You have to lead, through knowledge.

Please do not be led by product sellers.

You can have free metro transport solution- if only you want it: we can make it happen, that is what as IITian from Kharagpur (1996-1970), I can do for Kolkata!

But for heaven’s sake do not commit the blunder of setting up an elevated conventional metro rail traveling on your head all along the road- a waiting disaster to happen to the innocent road users and adjoining property- that will be a criminal act of negligence knowingly by the powers charged to protect lives and property in the state.

Let us serve wisely!

Yours sincerely,


(B. Rajaram)

Annexure: Profile.



Sri
Principal Secretary/ Transport/ Govt. of West Bengal /Kolkata
















Working for Infrastructure Development model
to make travel, food and shelter virtually free to all!
Er. B. Rajaram B.E., M.Tech., F.I.E IRSE(retd.,)
Life Member Computer Society of India
Fellow of National Academy of Engineering
Inventor &Mentor Anti-collision / Skybus Technologies
Mr. B. Rajaram (born 1945) is a First Class First with Distinction Engineering graduate and an M.Tech from IIT/Kharagpur. Having served a decade in railway open line in various capacities, another decade in Railway research at RDSO & IIT, worked abroad as consultant till 1990.
He was involved with the Konkan railway project from the beginning of construction (1990) as a Chief Engineer, Director (Projects) and finally as the Managing Director(1998 to Jan, 2005).
The World Bank praised his management practices.
He has original contributions of new theories in rail-wheel and track-vehicle interactions in railway technologies recognized and published in the world forums.
He holds several patents abroad and in India for his inventions. His inventions cover railway technologies, world’s first Intelligent Anti-collision Devices (already under implementation over 2500km of route on Indian Railways), Sky Bus Metro (concept first presented in Bologna University Italy, by him in 1989)- in all 17 patents are assigned by him to the Government, through Konkan Railway Corporation, the royalty streams valued ( by Pricewaterhouse Coopers) at Rs 20,000 to 30,000 cr over 10 years with NPV of over Rs 8000 cr, if nurtured over next three years.
Research & technology innovation has been his passion. He is the recipient of FICCI national level award for Outstanding contribution to knowledge based industries in our country, as adjudged by Justice Bhagawathi committee, in 2004.
He believes it is in the realm of reality to make food, travel, communication and dwelling virtually free to all humans on the planet through bold application of science and technology to infrastructure development.
He wants India to lead the world in transportation, with Skybus technology, which makes metro-rail safer and financially affordable.
He has started his own research laboratory and is using the company as the vehicle. His website is www.atrilab.com