High vehicle density in city causing pollution,parking woes,says CSE director

Giving a presentation,Anumita Roychowdhury,CSE’s executive Director,Research stated that with such a high number of personal vehicles being used,there was a need to plan alternate means of commuting. She said that for the number of vehicles being added every year,parking space equal to 58 football grounds was required,which is not available.

In Chandigarh,73 per cent of travel is through personal vehicles. While 43 per cent households in the city have cars,only 20 per cent of Delhi households own these. Even though Chandigarh falls in the category of class III cities in terms of population,it is among the richest cities of Asia with a high per capita income. Its motorization rate is higher than the mega cities of India.

Experts opine that Chandigarh will reach its saturation levels quite fast and congestion will increase. In absolute numbers,the total number of road accidents is much higher in Delhi than in Chandigarh.

While in 2010,the total number of accidents in Delhi was 7,260,in Chandigarh it was 456. However this translates into 201 accidents per 1,000 km of road length in Chandigarh while in Delhi it is 245 accidents per 1,000 km.

Experts stated that this was because roads here are designed for high speed. During off-peak hours,the journey speed and running speed in Chandigarh is greater than 40 km per hour. Peak-hour traffic,though,is comparatively lower.

Air quality monitoring shows that several locations have become pollution hotspots. There are five places in the city where monitoring of air pollution is done. The data reveals that air pollution is on the rise. While Chandigarh has no polluting industry,one of the causes of high pollution levels is stated to be the large number of vehicles.

Further,62 per cent of the road length in the city has no footpath. A survey by CSE of several stretches of roads revealed that even on roads where there are a large number of walkers,the vehicular speed allowed is high. Footpaths were not present at several places.

Poor streetlighting was a problem. It was stated that the rotaries at the intersection require design modification.

UT to look for alternatives to rumble strips

UT Adviser K K Sharma on Friday stated that the Engineering Department has been asked to look for better alternatives to rumble strips.

The rumble strips were installed at the Sector 19-27 roundabout and have drawn flak from the residents who rue that they damage their cars. There have been several accidents at the roundabout as being caught unawares,the drivers suddenly hit the brakes following which the cars that followed hit these causing pile ups.

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