REDUCED PRICES, MORE CARS AND MORE TRAFFIC JAMS

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This year's budget has made car buyers happy. And it has made car sellers happy too. The cut in the prices is substantial and that is very much likely to increase the sales. I have an ad from Maruti in front of me, which lists the price cuts.

Alto: Rs. 18,605
WagonR: Rs. 22,597
800: Rs. 13,838
Zen: Rs. 24,283
Baleno: Rs. 8,000

There are no price cuts on the Swift.

The question I have is - if the government encourages people to buy more cars and drive them on the same roads, how long can we sustain? Most of our cities are already congested and the travel time is increasing every day. More cars can only worsen things unless the new roads are built to support them. But the trouble is that it takes a long time to get the infrastructure in place but the cars will be on the road very soon. An increase in vehicles and more traffic jam also means more pollution and health disorders. In a city like Bangalore where I live, half the children are known to have some breathing disorders, and it only gets worse.

This is a time when most cities in the world are jacking up buying and driving prices of personal vehicles. Singapore introduced congestion taxes long ago to encourage using public transport. London has introduced congestion taxes since 2003 and it seems to be working. More countries in Europe are planning to go this way. What we now need is a step in similar lines. It can't be done in haste, and requires effort in improving public transport system to a degree that one feels convenient to take the bus. But working on these directions is the need of the hour to avoid congestion, ensure pollution free cities and faster movement from place to place.