The pollution in the big cities of India has reached to an alarming level and high number of vehicles on roads are resulting in problems of traffic jam, congestion, road rage, etc. In fact, the capital city of India, Delhi has been termed as gas chamber due to its high pollution levels and the Delhi government tried to control the situation by implementing Odd-Even rule; however, it was of no help in the long run.
In order to control the number of vehicles running on the road, the Central government is planning to introduce a rule as per which a person who wants to buy a new car or any other vehicle will first need to give a proof that he has sufficient parking space.
M Venkaiah Naidu, the Union urban development minister, has this to say on the matter,
“I am very keen on this. I am talking to the surface transport minister and also sensitizing the states. We would be moving in that direction.”
The officials of the road transport ministry are also in a mood to consider this proposal in a positive manner if it comes from the urban development ministry. An officer said, “Space crunch for parking and congestion in cities are big concerns. We’re serious about decongestion of roads.”
The idea or thought of the Central government has been appreciated by the urban transport experts but they are also apprehensive regarding its implementation. The implementation may be difficult as registration and parking space are the subject matters of different departments. The state transport departments carry out the registration of vehicles but the parking issues come under the municipal bodies. And most importantly, if the government wants to discourage the citizens from buying new vehicles, then it has to first make sure that an efficient public transport system is in place.
Sudhir Vohra, an urban planner and an architect, has this to say,
“The proposed measures to curb purchase of cars in the city are not unusual – many large metropolitan cities across the world have imposed such restrictions on car ownership with a fair amount of success. Such measures coupled with the increase in public transport infrastructure shall help free public space as well as reduce pollution. If these measures are implemented in a planned way and logically, will go a long way towards decongesting the city and are welcome steps towards the goal of making Delhi a true metropolis.”
Experts are also of the opinion that some other steps such as increasing parking fees, imposing charges on private vehicles in areas where there is more congestion, and high interest rates on vehicle loans, should also be implemented.
Many reports on the methods of decongesting cities and towns have talked about making a connection between registration of vehicles and proof of parking space.
The big cities of India, such as Delhi, Kolkata, and Mumbai are facing congestion on roads because of on-road and illegal parking also and now the situation is almost similar in the small cities too.
The High Court of Himachal Pradesh issued directions to the state government in 2015, as per which a new vehicle will be registered in the limits of Shimla municipal corporation only if the buyer presents a certificate that he has parking space for the vehicle.
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