Chandigarh leads 'per head vehicle' tally in India

When it comes to flaunting, Punjabis come second to none. They are known for their obsession for anything-on-wheels and a new report from TNIE (The New Indian Express) puts light on the same. Chandigarh, the joint capital of Punjab and Haryana has the maximum number of per capita vehicles in the country, with an average of 200 vehicle registrations on the regular basis.

From just 940 vehicles on its roads in the year 1967, Chandigarh has a traffic of 10.5 lakh vehicles currently, which accounts for an unbelievable growth of 10,000 times. These figures seems even bigger, with a population count of not-so-major 12 lakh. More than 45,000 vehicles are registered in the city on annual basis. A total of 45,113 vehicles got registered in a year before, whereas previous two years witnessed 50,460 and 51,259 vehicle registrations respectively.

“The brand value of Chandigarh number is very high. The VIP numbers are sold in auctions as people here are crazy about it. The purchasing power of people is another reason for the sprout in the number of vehicles in the city,” said Kashish Mittal of Chandigarh’s Registering and Licensing Authority.

Lesser registration charges as compared to closest states- Punjab and Haryana, is another reason for more vehicles getting registered in Chandigarh. Though, the rates are now increased considering the increase in registrations.

According to Mr. Ankush of Goel Motors, people buy vehicles from the city and get them registered here only because of their craze for a Chandigarh registration number. “The landlords, who have lands in Punjab and Haryana, have houses or flats in the city. All their vehicles have Chandigarh registration numbers,” he said.

This increasing number of vehicles in the city has given birth various problems too. Heavy traffic, increasing pollution as-well-as the rising graph of road accidents are the issues that arrived as a result for heavy traffic. Around 150 road accidents has been reported in the city so far this year.

Chandigarh administration issued a statement over the issue, “The city administration has plans for Metro and Bus Rapid Transit. We are also contemplating on measures to restrict the increasing personal vehicle use, like no-vehicle zones in Sector 17 (commercial hub of the city), high parking charges and congestion tax, etc.”