Shimla, city in a jam

SHIMLA: After Sikkim, Shimla has become the second city to make the provision of parking space mandatory before buying a vehicle. The city already has over 79,000 registered vehicles and most of them remain parked along the road as Shimla has parking only for around 1,000 vehicles. Entry of around 2,000-2,500 tourist vehicle adds to the problem. Traffic jams have become a daily routine in the tourist town while proposals like flyover and ropeways are still in the initial stage.
Sources state that during the peak season, around one lakh vehicles move in Shimla and majority of them end up being parked along the roads as the city does not have enough parking space to accommodate them.
Till 1815, Shimla was merely a small-sized village and infrastructure in the town was negligible till 1830 when the British government decided to acquire land comprising of the present Central Shimla from the Maharaja of Patiala and Raja of Keonthal state.
At a meeting of the Committee of Secretaries (CoS) held in April this year, the issue of sprawling traffic problem of Shimla was discussed at length. Apart from mulling the idea of adopting Singapore and China model to deal with the problem, a city mobility plan prepared by the municipal corporation was also discussed. It was decided in the meeting that before finalizing the plan, the state government would discuss it with the MC. It was also decided to remove the existing bottlenecks.
In Singapore there is no restriction on buying vehicles but they are purchased in auction that ultimately ensures less number of buyers resulting in less number of vehicles on the road. In several cities of China like Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, there is a restriction on the entry of vehicles for a few hours. Besides, maximum use of public vehicles is made.
In Shimla, road infrastructure was created during the British rule to cater to the needs of around 25,000 people. But with the passage of time, increase in population has resulted into the subsequent rise in the number of private vehicles as public transport system has failed to cater to the growing demand. The number of registered vehicles in Shimla has increased from 6 in 1970s to 16,450 in 1995 and to 80,000 till now. Majority of them are private vehicles. Of these, around 48% vehicles are four wheelers while 18% are two wheelers. Of the total registered vehicles only 2% falls under the public transport system, sources said.
While Shimla witnessed expansion of town and increase in both population and the number of vehicles, the authorities have remained oblivious to the need of creating more parking spaces and providing alternate corridors to ensure smooth regulation of traffic. According to sources, with thousands of vehicle being parked along the main roads, it would take years to decongest the town as people are not bothered to create parking space even at places that are direly approachable by road.
Besides local population, it is the flow of tourists that is adding to the problem as missing parking lots and absence of alternate corridors to divert the traffic is resulting into chaos in the hill town. The Circular Road built during British time is bearing the maximum pressure resulting in traffic jams most of the time.
Shimla-based social activist Ajay Shrivastava said lack of effective public transport system, shrinking walking habits among residents and fondness to flaunt their swanky cars has left the city choked. He said the high court direction to have parking space before buying a vehicle is a welcome step but the city would be decongested only when the residents would avoid making use of private vehicles and go for public transport.
A senior official at the district administration on condition of anonymity said even after HC orders new vehicles are being registered in Shimla. "People are still buying cars but only after producing certificate of owning parking space," the official added. He said earlier 100-150 vehicles were registered in the city on daily basis but now the number has decreased to 40-50 following the court orders.
Shimla Hoteliers Association president Harnam Kukreja said lack of parking space and frequent traffic jams roads was not good for the tourism industry. He said to cover a distance of 6 km from Kachighat to Lift in Shimla takes around two hours. "Tourists complain about harassment in traffic jam," he added.
DSP (traffic) Dinesh Sharma said after court orders registration of new vehicles has decreased considerably. He said the Circular Road gets clogged as motorists are not using the two bypasses. "We have already submitted a proposal to the district administration suggesting improvement in the condition of bypasses so that traffic rush on Circular Road is reduced," he said, adding that a proposal to have a flyover and multilevel parking too is under consideration to decongest the town. "There is need to have multi-level parking at the entry point of the town where tourists could park their vehicle and from there they can enter the town in public transport. Another suggestion to decongest the town is of charging entry fee," he added.
Shimla deputy mayor Tikender Singh Panwar said parking has become a biggest challenge in Shimla. He said that there is a need to create more parking areas in Shimla though parking space for around 1000 vehicles has already been provided but this is negligible considering city having around 80,000 registered vehicles. He said that there is need to have parking space for around 15,000 vehicle.
Panwar said 71 sites have been identified where public parking would be created for around 5,000 vehicles. He added that a decision of introducing green tax on vehicles having registration number of outside Himachal Pradesh too is under consideration.
Rajeev Thakur, councilor, Summer Hill ward of Shimla, said long traffic jam are witnessed on daily basis that also results into harassment to office goers and school children. He said employees report late to offices as they are stuck in traffic jams and they get punished with short leave with no fault of theirs. He added that the government should improve traffic situation of the city that has now turned into a source of harassment to daily commuters.
Decongestion plans
Flyover: A senior police official said as part of the decongestion plan, a 5-km flyover has been proposed for Shimla that would reduce traffic pressure on the existing Cart Road. He said the vehicles heading towards Kufri, Naldehra, Narkanda or beyond would not require entering Shimla as through the flyover they could easily bypass the busy stretches. The proposal is still under consideration of the authorities. From Taradevi, the flyover would start from near Sankat Mochan Temple and would connect at Chhota Shimla.
Change of byelaws: While disposing off a petition, a division bench of Justice Rajiv Sharma and Justice Talok Singh Chauhan in May this year had said it has been noticed that even though the buildings were connected by road, no provision for parking for even one vehicle had been kept. In many cases, building or part thereof is put to commercial use, while the vehicles are parked on the roadside that too without paying for the same. "Therefore, it becomes imperative that the byelaws be suitably amended by making it mandatory for all buildings connected by road to have parking space for at least one vehicle that too without permitting encroachment upon public property," the court added.
Ropeway: In order to provide traffic jam-free city, Rs 200 crore ropeway project connecting ISBT Tutikandi with the Ridge has been proposed. Through this, as many as 2,000 people in an hour would be transported (to and fro) that would reduce the pressure of vehicles from the existing Cart Road. The ropeway having four stations is expected to be completed in two and half years.
Areas affected
With the start of tourist season, traffic from Shoghi entry point of Shimla and Taradevi starts moving at snail's pace. Jams are witnessed not only at the Circular Road, but also at Lakkar Bazaar, St Edwards School, Chhota Shimla, Sanjaulim Victory Tunnel, Boileuganj, New Shimla, Khali and Vikas Nagar.
The Singapore model
Singapore is a role model for traffic management. Underground metro and well-connected bus services has discouraged the use of private vehicles while proper following of traffic rules by the public has also resulted into seldom traffic violations. In Singapore, there is provision of hefty penalties besides cancellation of licence. Traffic violators could even be barred from driving for a specific period. It is not easy to buy a car there as before seeking permission to own a car, one has to pay a huge amount as fee while majority population in Singapore prefers public transport system.