The population of the city stands approximately at 3.5 million and the vehicular population of the city has now reportedly, crossed a staggering 3.6 million.
All these vehicles are apparently registered under the Regional Transport Authority office under MH12.
We spoke to several city activists and informed citizens who shared views and offered solutions to managing the vehicular population concerns:
“Pune was known as a cycle city. ‘Two wheelers and four wheeler numbers are now growing exponentially. Pune was at one stage, best place to stay in. Today, in an effort to cater to the needs of every citizen, we have progressed indiscriminately and constantly damaging nature in every way be it vehicles or pollution opines, Netraprakash Bhog, Senior Advocate and Activist
The continuous increase in construction and infrastructure is another cause for increased heavy vehicles and more emission issues. It’s really disheartening that a city like Pune is on the verge of becoming one of the the most polluted cities in the country.
“Many laws have been changed, earlier the builder was not allowed to construct on hills and in the cantonment area, but the current scenario is completely different. The law has been violated several times, and the forest and ecological system is completely destroyed,” Bhog adds.
A city-based activist Nikhil Kadam says, Pune is known to be the educational and IT hub, along with that the huge increase in flats in an around Pune, leading to more people buying individual vehicles is contributing to this.
This has also led to massive traffic congestion in the city with commuters stuck for hours. We can’t stop people from buying cars, however, I feel stricter traffic rules will let people avoid their own vehicle and switch to Public transport.
For example, Bikes, autos, for wheelers, two wheelers with dangerous emission levels should be banned on the road, Similarly, very old vehicles should also be restricted.
Kadam adds, I hope the new metro and ring-road projects will be executed well in the city and get some much needed relief from traffic congestion.
Gayatri Tandale, Sub-Editor says, “Due to the increased vehicular population, it has become difficult to walk on roads. People are seen driving on all sides,
In a city like Pune, it now takes approximately 8-9 mins to cross a road junction.
I can say that the future is scary if this continues, Imagine the scene when all you see and hear is the traffic and no people around!
To control the population, promoting and good public transport is essential. Building flyovers and widening streets are certainly not the solutions to the problem until, commuters switch to other modes of transport like a bus, metro and cycling.
Pune Municipal corporation has already started cycle tracks in the city, and hopefully, in the coming years, the city will be blessed with good public transport.
It is time we act both, on an individual and collective level, Gayatri adds.
The city has a poor public transport system and we’re bound to face this reality of continuous increasing vehicular population, says Anup Waghmare, senior corporate professional.
The city is developing at a fast pace, but the road infrastructure and planning is deficient.
Before implementing new modes of transport, i think they should concentrate on the present modes of transport and increase their efficiency and comfort” he adds.
Efficient public transport notwithstanding, Pune ought to consider going the Singapore way and restrict the number of registrations of new vehicles and contain the traffic density sensibly.
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