AAP, Congress find common ground on Delhi’s traffic mess

June 08, 2015 12:00 am | Updated 05:34 am IST - NEW DELHI:

Pedestrians, bikers, cyclists and rickshaws jostle for space in the crowded streets of Chawri Bazaar in Delhi.— FILE PHOTO: Photo: Prashant Nakwe

Pedestrians, bikers, cyclists and rickshaws jostle for space in the crowded streets of Chawri Bazaar in Delhi.— FILE PHOTO: Photo: Prashant Nakwe

The Aam Aadmi Party government’s dream of decongesting the Capital’s streets has found support from the most unlikely of its political adversaries — the Congress.

After demanding that World Environment Day be observed as “Public Transport Day” in the Capital, Delhi Congress chief spokesperson Sharmistha Mukherjee said the party has embarked on a 10-day exercise over social media seeking suggestions from the public on the Capital’s gradually shrinking road space, to which an estimated 1,400 vehicles are added every day.

“The initiative was launched on Sunday and will continue till June 17,” Ms. Mukherjee said, adding that the suggestions received will be compiled as a report to be forwarded to the government for further consideration.

“The idea is to trigger a shift from private to public transportation due to rapidly shrinking road space, in addition to environmental considerations which affect all of us. We’re merely playing the role of a constructive opposition,” she said.

According to the Delhi government data, the total number of private vehicles registered in Delhi, currently stands at 84,75,371, compared to 3,56,821 commercial vehicles — including public transport vehicles — as on March 31, 2015. The belief of the Congress — that the traffic of private vehicles plying on Delhi’s streets can be limited by expanding the public transport sector, which consists of both the Delhi Transport Corporation buses and the Delhi metro network — is akin to that of Delhi Transport Minister Gopal Rai, who wants to affect a systemic change in the way the city commutes.

According to him, the government is of the view that the average Delhiite’s wish to commute by public transport remains unfulfilled due to lack of last mile connectivity and availability of adequate number of DTC buses.

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