Gone are the days when Dehradun held the pristine charm of being one of the most verdant and serene hill towns in India. Fast forward to 2019 and pedestrians are seen struggling to walk on the roads which are perpetually jammed due to vehicular overload. Since becoming the provisional Capital city of Uttarakhand in 2000, Dehradun has witnessed a population spurt of not just its inhabitants but also the overall floating population each year. An expansion in the Government’s administrative establishment has meant gigantic magnitude of population influx from even the remotest towns in the State.
Increasing commercialisation has led to construction of newer office spaces, and shopping arcades-in most cases poorly designed with little consideration for surroundings. A surge in employment opportunities in both public and private domains have contributed to enhancement of average incomes.
This has meant more number of people owning private vehicles. The overall condition of public transportation like buses, tempos and auto rickshaws has remained dilapidated, with most of them lacking adequate emission checking and other basic features necessary in proper public transport. The number of vehicles in Dehradun has clearly outpaced the road capacity in the city. Large chunks of forested lands have been cleared for developing residential, commercial or mixed localities.
Shrinkage of tree cover alongs with increasing vehicle load has resulted in rising smoke as well as particulate pollution in the air apart from noise pollution and congestion. This rising vehicular traffic and haphazard parking practices on the part of people has been contributing not just to messy and avoidable traffic congestions but also to multiple road accidents.
The smart city model which has been sanctioned since June 2017 proposes many infrastructural overhauling plans for Dehradun. It has enacted that all the two and four-wheelers used for the city’s traffic management would be geotagged like roads and streets.
Plans are in place for making complete public transport system information technology enabled. Despite this ambitious proposal, the need of the hour is a multi faceted comprehensive action plan by the Government to tackle this burgeoning menace. At the outset, public transport capacity building becomes indispensable. Better connectivity, affordable and fuel efficient buses, metros and auto rickshaws along with facilitations for pedestrians and cyclists are required so that people are discouraged from using private vehicles.
The private vehicles also need to be regularly and thoroughly screened for their emission levels. The defaulters should be subject to an immediate punitive action by authorities.
Environment friendly practices like carpooling must be made popular-with soft incentives if found effective- especially among Government officials and other office goers. The use of school transportation must be encouraged among people instead of privately picking and dropping their children to school and in the process causing considerably more pollution and traffic congestion as witnessed daily in various parts of Dehradun where prominent schools are located.
Systematic and routine shuttle services must be introduced between airport, railway station, bus terminal and various localities of the city, so that people are discouraged from using private cars for airport travel.
This will then minimise vehicular load on the roads. Healthy habits like walking and cycling must be inculcated in the younger generation and awareness campaigns should be organised in educational institutions regarding the ill impacts of rising traffic. Widening of arterial roads is equally important along with development of pedestrian subways and footpaths.
There also needs to be a stringent ban on heavy vehicles in central areas of the city. Overhead and underground bridges for crossing more busy and trafficy roads in the city should be given priority. Provision of multi storey car parking, creating bus terminals and imposing strict restrictions on haphazard parking on road sides could also ease traffic bottle necks.
For the roads where capacity expansion is not possible due to space constraints, building smaller flyovers could be a major game changer. A public bicycle sharing system must be enacted like one being practiced at metros like Bengaluru. This will push more people to rent bicycles for commuting within the city, which is an inexpensive and eco friendly means of transportation that also benefits the health of the users.
Dehradun has been reeling under massive onslaughts of sudden and unplanned urbanisation since last two decades. The problems of traffic congestions, over population and indiscriminately rising pollution have battered the once beautiful landscape into an infrastructural mess. If timely intervention is not done, it may lose its unique charm forever. We as residents and concerned citizens must take active action and help in sensitising others regarding controlling this menace.
(The author is a retired civil servant)
