Drastic Curbs on Private Cars Proposed

By Kajol Singh

Owning and using private vehicles could become a lot tougher if proposals made by the National Action Plan on Climate Change are implemented. Alarmed by the burgeoning growth of private vehicles in Indian cities and the resultant rise in fuel emissions, a panel under the action plan has suggested a slew of measures that promise to change the face of urban transport.

At the heart of these recommendations is the understanding that allround costs of using personal vehicles need to be raised even as public transport is strengthened.

The measures — proposed by the Mission on Sustainable Habitat under the action plan being prepared by the urban development ministry — include making ownership of parking space compulsory for those wishing to buy new private vehicles, making parking fee reflect the cost of land, imposing a congestion charge and making parts of the city off limits for cars.

The mission document is being prepared to detail what the PM’s council on climate change had passed in principle a few months ago. The report notes that growth of registered vehicles is four times the rate of growth of population in six major metros — Delhi, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Chennai. Simultaneously the share of public transport has declined from 69% to 38% in the 1994-2007 period in cities with population above 4 million.

It warns that the fuel consumption for road vehicles, if unchecked, would be six times the 2005 level by 2035 and greenhouse gas emissions would go up 5.8 times in the 30-year period.

The mission has recommended dedicating select corridors to only public transport, limiting the availability of parking space in city centres, banning parking on arterial roads, charging higher parking rates at peak hours, make street parking steep and reducing the use of diesel propelled private vehicles besides other measures. While this may seem like a wish list many experts have recommended before, as part of the climate change action plan, many of these ideas have a good chance of getting implemented for the first time. The mission document is to be shared with the PM’s climate change council before it gets operational.

“The Centre provides funds for urban development. We would build these into the city and municipal plans that we fund in consultation with states and the respective cities,’’ said a senior official in the urban development ministry, explaining how the recommendations would be turned into regulations.

The mission document also recommends creation of a regulatory body which will lay down minimum basic service standards for the industry, impose heavy fines, suspend or even cancel licenses and prosecute erring agencies or individuals.

There’s also a proposal for a dedicated urban transport fund to pump money into running public transport better in urban areas. Endorsing the moves by the power ministry, it has also backed the imposition of tough fuel efficiency norms for vehicles and gone further to recommend that purchase of vehicles should be done keeping fuel efficiency in mind.