New Delhi: In its effort to make the Walled city less congested as well as let the visitors enjoy the old age charm in a royal way, Municipal corporation of Delhi is all set to roll out ‘buggies’ as a mode of transport for tourists in the Walled City area. The new service is expected to start in another two to three months.

The intended buggy service is going to be single point pick and drop service. In the first phase the buggies will travel on the route connecting Chandni Chowk, Chawri Bazar, Jama Masjid and Ballimaran. With time as the roads are made wider the buggy service will be expanded to cover the inner lanes of Old Delhi as well, which not many people are able to explore.

The buggy service will cover important landmarks in the walled city namely Jama Masjid, Town Hall, Shish Ganj Gurdwara, Fatehpuri mosque, Ghanta Ghar sweet shop and other places. Apart from this, to make the tour a memorable one MCD will appoint a guide who will also point out less-known structures like old havelis and give tourists a run-down on the historical significance of all the sites. The city government is keen to cash on approaching Commonwealth Games, and keeping this in mind MCD is projecting the Walled city area as a heritage site where tourist can experience the bygone era in style.   

According to Senior MCD official, ‘‘we want to give these buggies a completely contemporary look so there will be no compromise on their designs. We are studying the style and designs of various kinds of buggies that were commonly used in the colonial period by different hierarchies of society.’’

The MCD has narrowed down on three different kind of buggy designs that they propose to introduce shortly. — The covered buggy, used by the higher reaches of society, the open buggy, favourite of the royal families, and the most popular normal buggy which resembles a tonga. This last was used by all sections of society, including the middle-class and even the less privileged.

To make this service successful MCD intends to keep the fare of this buggy service at nominal. In the era gone by   particularly the British raj- buggy service was considered one of the most important modes of transport and MCD is looking at creating the same kind of atmosphere and magic in the Walled City.