INDIA: India's capital, New Delhi, had its first stretch of underground metro track opened yesterday. The new 4.12km line will help to ease congestion and pollution for some 15 million people in the over-crowded city.
"I am convinced that India's cities cannot continue to develop in the present way. We will have to invest in public infrastructure," said India's Prime Minister, Mr Manmohan Singh, who performed the official opening.
"Our government proposes to launch a national urban renewal mission and we will ensure that public transport is available for the weaker (poorer) sections under this plan," Mr Singh added.
The first stretch of Delhi's metro opened two years ago and the second 10 months later. Both of these were above ground. Modelled on Hong Kong's network, the three sections now cover about 38km of the 62km planned. When completed, the metro will transport more than two million passengers each day.
The remaining 24km of track is scheduled to be completed within a year. City planners say that it will considerably reduce congestion in Delhi, where the number of vehicles using the capital is equal to the combined total for India's three other major cities - Bombay, Calcutta and Madras.
About 3,000 state-run and privately-owned buses provide an inefficient service to Delhi's commuters. In their enthusiasm to pick up larger numbers of passengers, bus drivers tend to drive dangerously, causing many accidents.
Delhi has the world's highest road accident death rate of six people per day, in addition to which thousands are either permanently maimed or badly injured each year.
Driving in the capital is nothing short of a nightmare and drivers can often come upon cows and sometimes even elephants squatting on dimly-lit roads or ambling through traffic.
Since last year, elephants have begun to be fitted with with reflective "tail lights" to lessen the risk of them being a traffic hazard in the dark.
Additional risks, other than deeply-pitted road surfaces, include zig-zagging cyclists, meandering pedestrians and trucks and buses often heading the wrong way down streets and highways, even at night, frequently without lights.
The entire metro project is costing about Rs100 billion (€1.9 billion), a large portion of which has been loaned by Japan.