New Delhi, March 27 — Aam Aadmi Party MP Raghav Chadha on Friday urged the government to launch a National Urban Decongestion Mission, warning that traffic gridlock in India’s largest metropolitan areas is turning cities into “giant parking lots” and threatening productivity and quality of life. Speaking in the Rajya Sabha on urban challenges, he called for urgent, coordinated action to reverse the trend.
Chadha named major congestion hotspots across Delhi, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Pune and Chennai, citing Delhi’s Ring Road, Ashram Chowk, Dhaula Kuan and the NH‑8 Delhi‑Gurgaon stretch; A.J.C. Bose Road and Chowringhee in Kolkata; Silk Board Junction and Outer Ring Road in Bengaluru; and Andheri, Bandra and Fort in Mumbai as chronic bottlenecks.
Describing the human cost, he said commuters increasingly spend hours stuck in traffic and even attend virtual work meetings from their cars. “When you are stuck in such places, you do not feel like you are on a road; instead, it feels like a long parking lot,” Chadha told the upper house.
Citing data, Chadha said the average commuter wastes between 100 and 168 hours a year sitting in traffic: about 168 hours in Bengaluru, 152 in Pune, 126 in Mumbai, around 110 in Kolkata, approximately 104 in Delhi and nearly 100 in Chennai. “Every hour lost is an hour India cannot get back,” he said.
He warned the problem is likely to worsen, noting that around 2.5 crore new vehicles were registered in the country last year, most of them private vehicles, and listed broader consequences including reduced productivity, fuel wastage, higher air pollution and worsening stress and frustration for residents.
To tackle the crisis, Chadha proposed a National Urban Decongestion Mission focused on strengthening public transport, deploying smarter traffic management systems and implementing a scientific parking policy, along with a targeted action plan for major cities. He cautioned that without such measures, India’s economic growth could be impeded. “If our cities remain stuck in traffic jams, our economy cannot move into the fast lane,” he said.
— IANS
Original Source: https://assamtribune.com/national/raghav-chadha-seeks-national-mission-to-tackle-traffic-congestion-1609910
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Publish Date: 2026-03-27 15:48:00
