New Delhi, Feb 23 (IANS): The Delhi government on Friday launched the first phase of the "Connect Delhi" initiative covering the Najafgarh area of the national capital.

"Connect Delhi" is an initiative to rationalise the bus and feeder services in the city with a vision that all residential areas and villages of Delhi are connected with a reliable public transport facility within 500m of walking distance, at a frequency of 15 minutes.

Speaking to the media, Delhi Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot said whenever there was a discussion about buses, it was mostly about the numbers.

"But it is also important to have optimum utilisation of the buses we have," he said.

This was the reason the government conducted the route rationalisation study last year, Gahlot said.

"Many organisations are involved in managing the Delhi transport system, which includes, but is not limited to, the DTC, DMRC, Transport Department, Delhi Traffic Police etc.

"Through 'Connect Delhi', the government intends to bring all these organisations together and develop an integrated route rationalisation plan for public transport in Delhi that is conveniently accessible to all," he said.

The first phase will be implemented from Sunday, Gahlot said.

Najafgarh comprises both urban and rural areas in South West Delhi.

"Najafgarh is served by over 36 bus service routes run by both DTC and cluster buses, 14 RTVs and 14 Gramin Sewa routes. Additionally, the area has metro feeder as well as e-rickshaw services," the government said in a statement.

However, due to spatial distribution of settlements and limited accessible motorable networks, many villages were not yet connected by a well-serviced and reliable public transport network.

"With the available fleet of 70 buses, the implementation of the first phase of the proposed Najafgarh Pilot Study would witness improvement in the service level of various villages," Gahlot said.