Lack of parking space, narrow road networks, ill designed roads junctions and inadequate number of roads add to the problem, a recent survey conducted by a Vadodara-based NGO, Paryavaran Suraksha Samiti, says.
Peak hour speeds in some of these cities is in the range of six to 18 km per hour, the study said. With the increase in number of vehicles in the state, the vehicular pollution is on the rise.
The number of vehicles in Gujarat has grown from a mere 0.45 millions in 1981 to 5.1 million in 2000 and 6.6 million this year. The rate of growth of automobiles is around 11.4 per cent per annum, the highest in the country.
Every year, about four lakh vehicles are added to the roads of Gujarat. The number of public transport buses has stagnated, a deliberate attempt by the state and the automobiles industry to increase the market of private vehicles, it said.
With the increase in the number of automobiles in the state, consumption of petrol and diesel has also increased at a rapid rate. The pollutants emitted by the vehicles produce inflammatory effects on the respiratory organs.
Air pollution in the cities of Gujarat is fast increasing with the new models of cost-effective diesel cars hitting the road everyday, it said.
Diesel is responsible for emitting dangerous wastes like sulphur and oxides of nitrogen, while petrol-driven cars contribute most of the carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, lead and benzene, the survey said.
