Restrict number of vehicles per family, HC to Govt

On Tuesday, the Bombay High Court suggested the Maharashtra government to frame a policy for restricting the number of vehicles, which can be purchased by one family.

The suggestion came from a division bench of Justice Vidyasagar Kanade and Justice Swapna Joshi while heairng a public interest litigation (PIL) highlighting the shortage of dedicated parking places in the city.

The bench also suggested the government to promote inland water transport system, which can lead to congestion-free roads.

During the hearing the bench said, “Around 13,000 to 14,000 vehicles are registered on a daily basis. Also thousands of vehciles enter and exit from the city daily, but all this is creating traffic problems in the city and there should be an end to this.”

“There are have been instances wherein one family has more several cars, which means more vehicles on the roads leading to congestion,” the bench added.

Referring to the decade-old scenario, the bench said, “There was a time when it used to take only 20 minutes to reach South Mumbai from Dadar but now it takes around three hours to reach Airport from South Mumbai.”

“The situation is same in Suburbs... there is more congestion in areas like Andheri, Versova... this is because there is no connection between the Easter and Western part of the city. It is high time, the government should now come up with a solution rather than sitting on this issue,” the bench added.

Accordingly, the bench directed the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM), Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA), the state Urban Development Ministry and the Traffic Police to sit together and come up with a ‘holistic policy’ to bring down the traffic problems.

“We direct the State government to clarify its stand on whether it proposes to review its policy of not allowing vehicles under flyovers and if its still looks at the same with a threat perception,” the bench said.

It may be recalled that the government had barred parking of vehicles under flyovers in the city citing threats and another bench of HC upheld the same decision.

The bench directed the government to spell out the steps it proposes to reduce the congestion of roads in the city.

“The government must consider framing a policy for restricting the number of vehciles which can be purchased by one family,” the bench said.

Posting the matter on October 19, the bench said, “The government must clarify whether it is possible to reduce road traffic by promoting water transport.”