Tricity solution needed to battle traffic mess: Parida

Sushil Manav

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, August 7

Land acquisition and reluctance in sharing of expenditure by the neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana are major bottlenecks in the way of the Chandigarh Administration’s endeavour to ease traffic mess and congestion on roads the city is facing day in and day out.

In an exclusive interaction with The Tribune, Manoj Parida, Adviser to the UT Administrator, today listed steps the UT plans to take to mitigate the problem of traffic mess in the city.

“We have done well on urban issues such as drinking water, electricity, healthcare and education. Law and order is also under control, but the traffic mess in the city is one thing which we have not been able to tackle,” Parida said in a candid admission.

“This is largely because we cannot do this for the city in isolation; we have to find a tricity solution. For this, Punjab and Haryana ought to give us land and also share expenditure for whatever projects are to be taken up. It can be a ring road to ease traffic in the city and also alternative roads to Panchkula and Mohali up to the Chandigarh international airport,” he said.

The UT Adviser said there were no financial constraints for these projects as the Administration would get as much funds from the Centre as were required, but the land acquisition issue and agreement by the neighbouring states to share the expenditure were coming in the way.

Asked about the fate of much touted Metro and Mono rail projects for the city, Parida said the report of a French company, which was hired to study the feasibility of Mono rail, was rejected because the figures of prospective passengers mentioned in the report were not correct.

Now, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) had also prepared a report for a Metro project and this was under the consideration of the Administration.

Among other steps to ease traffic and to reduce vehicular pollution is the acquisition of 70 electric buses by the UT Administration.

World Bank is providing funds for these buses, said the UT Adviser.

Bicycle sharing is another step the Administration has planned to alleviate the traffic chaos on roads.

Parida, however, admitted that the conditions in the city were not too favourable for cycle riding.

“Our weather is not conducive to cycle riding for almost seven to eight months in a year. Encroachment on cycle tracks is another issue, but we will clear the tracks before we launch the project,” he said.

UT Adviser Manoj Parida said that people would also need to be sensitised to respect cyclists as was done in the West.

The Administration, he said, was planning to promote cycling in Chandigarh by “bringing in glamour”, as after seeing films stars, Governor and officers riding cycles, people, too, would be attracted towards this.

The Chandigarh Administration was also contemplating other measures of keeping the number of vehicles on the road under control by charging more for additional vehicles, introducing the odd-even system or some other means.

To address the issue of parking, the Chandigarh Administration was contemplating converting abandoned parks into parking areas.