Delhi too will go car-free on October 22: From Red Fort to India Gate
Transport Minister Gopal Rai asked the Traffic Police and transport department to work out the modalities for making the stretch car-free for a day.
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The government is planning to observe the 22nd of every month as car-free day and work towards making Delhi congestion-free.
Following in Gurgaon’s footsteps, the Delhi government has declared the stretch between Red Fort and India Gate ‘car-free’ on October 22. The Gurgaon administration declared every Tuesday a car-free day, the first of which was observed today.
Transport Minister Gopal Rai asked the Traffic Police and transport department to work out the modalities for making the stretch car-free for a day. The government is also planning to observe the 22nd of every month as car-free day and work towards making Delhi congestion-free.
“Only public transport will be allowed on this stretch. This will be a humble beginning towards getting people to use public transport, thereby reducing Delhi’s pollution levels,” said Rai.
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However, many feel that making one stretch car-free would cause chaos. “Red Fort is not an area from where people generally travel to India Gate. What will people coming from faraway areas, who have to travel via the Red Fort stretch, do? These issues have been left unaddressed,” said an official.
Meanwhile, the government has scheduled a meeting on October 8 with business houses to discuss the promotion of public transport and car pooling.
“A concerted effort is the only way to ensure that Delhi’s air remains less hazardous,” said Rai.
The government has asked various agencies, such as the transport department, Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System (DIMTS) and Delhi Traffic Police, to shortlist five points in the capital that are highly congested.
“We will involve traffic police, volunteers, DIMTS and other agencies to make these five areas congestion-free. Then we will extend it across the city,” said Rai in a meeting with top officials of various agencies and NGO representatives. He said the government is also mulling a congestion tax on those who own more than two vehicles.
The government has also planned to launch a huge awareness drive in the coming days on the initiative.
“We will use nukkad nataks, involve volunteers and promote the campaign on social media to make it a success,” said the minister, who has also asked officials to think of a name for the campaign.
The government also said it would launch an mobile application called ‘Puchho’, which can be used by people to call a cab or auto-rickshaw. The officials concerned have been told to collate data regarding auto-rickshaws and taxis, which can be uploaded on to the app.
‘DTC buses biggest cause of traffic snarls in city’
New Delhi: While debating on what leads to the congestion and pollution in the capital, fingers were pointed at the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC). Additional commissioner, traffic police, Muktesh Chander told senior officials and the transport minister in a meeting that majority of the snarls in the city are due to breakdown of the low-floor DTC buses.
“There is a hydraulic log jam in low-floor buses which makes it impossible for the repair team to push them down the road so that traffic can run smoothly. There must be a system to address this issue,” said Chander.
According to data available with the traffic police, Chander said out of 2,100 breakdowns, 70 per cent led to traffic snarls. Other suggestions were given to train drivers to halt buses at the bus stop as many of them stop the bus in the middle of the road, causing traffic snarls. ENS
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