Landlocked Chandigarh, unique in respects more than one, is getting motorized by the day. The City Beautiful leads in per capita number of vehicles. According to R.K Swamy BBDO Guide to Urban Markets, Chandigarh accounted for the highest number of car ownership in 2003-04. Most of its inhabitants use own vehicles, including two-wheelers and four-wheelers, to travel within the city.
The otherwise planned and pollution-free Chandigarh is heading towards mayhem on its roads due to the swelling numbers of vehicles on the roads.It virtually faces the threat of losing its title of pollution-free city. Potholed roads, traffic jams, road accidents, woefully inadequate parking slots and rising pollution level are some of the problems posed by the choking number of vehicles in Chandigarh.
Chandigarh came into existence in 1966. The next year, it registered 940 vehicles, but in 2001, the number shot up to 4, 96,086 and in 2007, the registered vehicles aggregated 6,69,715 (see accompanying chart). Whether it is cars, jeeps, scooters, bikes, auto-rickshaws or buses, the number is rising by the day. Interestingly, last year, the number of four-wheelers in Chandigarh increased more than those of two-wheelers. According to officials in the Registering and Licensing Authority (RLA), about 120 to 140 vehicles are registered every day in Chandigarh.
Small wonder that Le Corbusier's well planned green city is no more pollution-free and congestion-less. The City Beautiful which had been designed and planned for a population of five lakh, is now bursting at the seams with 12 lakh inhabitants. And, by 2021, the population is projected to increase to about 19.5 lakh, almost four times it had been originally built for. The popular image of the city is losing out due to the ever-increasing number of vehicles and increased pollution.
The Chandigarh Pollution Control Committee keeps monitoring air quality at key locations. According to it, the air quality levels show that sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide are below the permissible limits but suspended particulate matter (SPM) and respirable suspended particulate matter (RSPM) exceed the permissible limits at several places in Chandigah. .
The SPM level has increased against the permissible limit of 140µg/m³ at most places. As for RSPM, the levels have increased more than the permissible limit of 120µg/m³ in the industrial area and the permissible limit of 60µg/m³ at other places. The statistics show the rise in the pollution level in the city.
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