In a bid to fight pollution, Mumbai's municipal corporation proposes ceiling on vehicle registration

MUMBAI: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation ( BMC), India’s biggest civic body, has proposed a radical overhaul of Mumbai’s vehicle usage to combat rising pollution in the Maximum City.

A plan submitted last month suggests that the government could consider three options to cut pollution which has risen to alarming levels: a complete ban on new car and bike registrations in the city after a cutoff date, a ceiling on new registrations each year and approving registrations only after proof of parking space in a housing society or complex is submitted by a buyer. These measures would cut the rapid growth of new vehicles on city roads and help avoid parking congestion.
The Comprehensive Mobility Plan ( CMP), as the BMC proposal is called, also calls for a ‘congestion tax’ in some zones.

Entry of cars and bikes will be banned in these zones during certain hours and violators will have to pay a huge fine.

The BMC’s move comes amid a raging debate and rising consciousness among city dwellers and urban policy planners about rising levels of pollution in metros. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal launched a scheme last month where cars with odd and even numbers were asked to ply on alternate days to bring down pollution levels.

A fire in a dumping ground in a Mumbai suburb a few weeks ago created thick smog-like conditions all over the city creating a furore over government inaction and the vulnerability of Mumbai to rising pollution.

State government officials are tight-lipped over the contents of the report and the follow-up action they are likely to take. Some officials say there has to be a restriction on the indiscriminate use of private vehicles in a city like Mumbai. On Monday at the Make in India conference, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had spoken about creating a mobility plan that would allow seamless and faster travel in Mumbai.

BMC’s proposal might seem draconian, but the study has found disturbing statistics that show how indiscriminate addition of private vehicles was clogging the roads of the city and gives compelling arguments on why public transport needs to be given a push. The average car penetration in India is 18 per 1,000 people but in Mumbai and Delhi, it is 65.

“This should be welcomed as for years roads are being built only for cars. If the govt gives a push to public transport by curtailing the use of private vehicles, then it is good,” said Ashok Datar, transport expert.

The CMP, however, does not stop with just prescribing solutions for pollution control. It also suggests the creation of urban public transport infrastructure to facilitate easy movement of people and vehicles.

It proposed to build 34 Exclusive Bus Lanes on which only public transport buses would ply, increasing their speed and frequency. Intra-city bus terminals too are part of the plan.

The proposal also envisages widening 707 km of roads and linking roads by removing encroachments. A charge will be levied for parking on roads.

A dedicated metro network, 29 rail overbridges, 19 flyovers and six elevated roads, and over 100 cycling tracks are also part of the plan. The cost for the project, which will go on till 2034, is pegged at Rs 1.55 lakh crore.

The plan has found an opposition in the country’s largest car manufacturer. “Congestion tax is a different thing, in certain areas if you bring in cars at certain time of the day… you pay extra cost, fair enough...but to tell me that you don’t run the car at all, that is a different story,” says RC Bhargava, chairman of Maruti Suzuki. Bhargava said that cars are not the only thing that causes traffic on the roads.