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A meeting of the consultative committee attached to the Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India was held at Srinagar under the Chairmanship of Sh. Ghulam Nabi Azad, Union Minister for Urban Development. The subject of discussion was the draft National Urban Transport Policy.
In his opening address, Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad informed the members about various achievements and policy decisions taken during the intervening period and said that Central Public Works Department (CPWD) is actively involved in the construction/reconstruction activities in Afghanistan. He also referred to the approval given to Phase-II of Delhi MRTS project and also the finalizing of National Urban Renewal Mission and Urban Infrastructure Development Scheme for Small and Medium Towns and the National Urban Information System.
Referring to the draft National Urban Transport Policy, Shri Azad said that rapid growth in the number of motor vehicles has resulted in severe congestion and air pollution in many cities in the country to such an extent that while the population of the six major metropolises in India has gone up by about 1.8 times from 1981 to 2001, the number of registered motor vehicles has gone up by over seven times during the same period. “Increased incidence of road accidents and increasing consumption of precious petroleum fuels have also been matters of considerable concern”, he added. He also said that the number of road accidents have gone up almost three times in the last two decades from about 28,000 in 1981 to 81,000 in 2001, thus adversely affecting the quality of life in urban areas.
Recognizing these developments, the Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India, has, for the first time, drafted a National Urban Transport Policy, which aims at providing a transport system that would “save lives, time and money” for city residents, the Minister added. The policy seeks to make our cities livable and also enable them to realize their full potential as “Engines” of India’s economic growth.
The policy proposes a much closer integration of land use and transport planning and also emphasizes greater use of public transport and non-motorized modes of travel since these modes occupy less road space and emit fewer pollutants compared to personal motor vehicles. The policy recognizes the importance of providing good parking facilities in urban areas and also the need to properly manage the freight traffic that gets generated. It offers central government’s financial support for the required investments and also aims at building up capability for sound urban transport planning in the cities. It suggests a coordinated approach to urban transport planning and the need for creating greater awareness about the problems amongst city residents.
The draft policy was first circulated to all the state governments and regional presentations were made to elicit the views of all stakeholders. The draft policy was also discussed by the Union Minister of Urban Development, Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad, at a conference of the Chief Ministers and State Transport Ministers on 29th June, 2005 in New Delhi when the Ministry of Urban Development, Government of India, received several useful suggestions for improvement of the policy, apart from an unanimous endorsement of the initiative. Among the suggestions made was the need for suitable amendments in the Motor Vehicles Act to cater to the specific requirements of the city areas and the need to offer support for mass transit systems to all million plus cities and state capitals. These suggestions have been incorporated into the draft policy.
The Consultative Committee deliberated upon all the issues pertaining to the draft National Urban Transport Policy and generally endorsed the proposals contained therein. These proposals would now be placed before the Union Cabinet for approval.
The Consultative Committee Meeting was attended by Sh. Suresh Pachouri, Minister of State for Personnel & Parliamentary Affairs, Sh. B.K. Handique, Minister of State for Defence & Parliamentary Affairs, S/Sh. Jagdish Tytler, Swadesh Chakraborty, Madan Lal Sharma, Ravi Prakash Verma, Prasanta Chatterjee, Brajesh Pathak, Smt. Krishna Tirath, Smt. Tejaswini Seeramesh, Anjan Kumar Yadav, Members of Parliament from Lok Sabha and Smt. Prema Cariappa, Dr. Akhilesh Das, Sh. V. Narayanasamy, Sh. G.K. Vasan, Members of Parliament from Rajya Sabha.
HRK/SK
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