Chandigarh, January 2
City Beautiful is slowly losing its image of being congestion free and pollution free city. The increasing number of vehicles is putting an extra load on the city’s infrastructure that had been planned for a population of a few lakhs. Statistics reveal that on an average there was one vehicle for every one and half person. Sample this: Officials in the registering and licensing authority (RLA), Chandigarh, reveal that around 200 vehicles were being daily registered in the city. Compare this to the statistics of 2001, when around 20 vehicles were registered daily.
Professionals dealing with the sale and purchase of cars and two wheelers reveal that the influx of professionals has increased thereby bringing more vehicles. This has put an additional load on the basic facilities like roads. They point out that the section opting for medium range cars and luxury cars was the highest in the city.
Seeing the growing segment of consumers, the companies are focusing more on selling more cars in this part of the country. Sales figures of cars are on the higher side when compared to the entire country.
Manmohan Singh, a resident of Sector 34, said, “The administration should take immediate steps to introduce public transport vehicles which are pollution free otherwise the city’s green image will remain only on papers.”
Planners say the city roads are not suited to accommodate a huge rush of vehicles as in case of metros. With the pollution on a rise, the city is losing its originality and causing a concern for the people living therein.