The "Climate Change" Plan

The owning and using of private vehicles could become tougher if the proposals made by the National Action Plan on Climate Change are implemented. Alarmed by the growth of private vehicles in Indian cities and the rise in fuel emissions, a panel under the action plan has suggested numerous measures that promise to change the face of urban transport. It is based on the understanding that all-round costs of using personal vehicles need to be raised even as public transport is strengthened.


The Measures which are proposed by the Mission include :-


-Making ownership of parking space compulsory for those wishing to buy new private vehicles.


-Making parking fee reflect the cost of land.


-Imposing a congestion charge and making parts of the city off limits for cars.


-The mission has also recommended dedicating select corridors to only public transport.


-Limiting the availability of parking space in city centres.


-Banning parking on arterial roads.


-Charging higher parking rates at peak hours.


-Make street parking steep and reducing the use of diesel propelled private vehicles.


-The mission document also recommends creation of a regulatory body which will lay down minimum basic service standards for the industry, impose heavy fines, suspend or even cancel licenses and prosecute the erring agencies or individuals.


-There's also a proposal for a dedicated urban transport fund to pump money into running public transport better in urban areas.


-It has also backed the imposition of tough fuel efficiency norms for vehicles and gone further to recommend that government's purchase of vehicles should be done keeping fuel efficiency in mind.


The report also notes that growth of registered vehicles is four times the rate of growth of population in six major metros like Delhi, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Chennai. It has warned that the fuel consumption for road vehicles, if unchecked, would be six times by 2035 and greenhouse gas emissions would go up 5.8 times in the 30-year period. Simultaneously, the share of public transport has declined drastically from 69% to 38% between 1994-2007 period in cities with population above 4 million.
The mission document is to be shared with the PM's climate change council before it gets operational.