Expressing concern about the rising pollution levels as well as traffic congestion in major cities, a senior government official today wondered whether it was possible to regulate sale of private vehicles to stop the cities from "choking".
According to RK Singh, who is Director of Urban Transport in the Urban Development Ministry, such regulation on the ownership of private vehicles would be the last option for the government to keep a check on pollution as well as traffic jams in cities.
"As of now, I am not aware if the Urban Development Ministry is mulling such an idea, but, it is indeed possible to regulate sale of private vehicles. There are countries like Singapore where it is very difficult to buy your own vehicle. Circumstances may force the authorities to do the same in India," Singh told reporters .
He said it is not possible to handle such a large number of vehicles coming on roads every year.
"How we are supposed to handle such a large number of vehicles hitting the roads? How many flyovers we will build? And that is also not a solution. In China, all the newly built flyovers are choked. South Korea has razed some flyovers recently. Best solution is public transport, such as BRTS or metro trains," said Singh.
He was here to brief media about the commencement of 4-day long 'Urban Mobility India Conference' to be held in Gandhinagar from tomorrow.
Replying to a query if it is possible to bring some kind of rule to restrict private vehicle ownership in the worst case scenario, Singh said "There is no such rule at present in this regard. However, just like Singapore, we can also do it here. In future, when our cities will be choked, we may have to do it by force".
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