Karnataka may restrict Bangalore families from buying more than one car

With the roads in Bangalore choked to capacity, Karnataka Government is considering a proposal to restrict families from purchasing more than one car.

The burgeoning vehicular population in congested cities like Bangalore and Mysore has forced Karnataka’s Transport Minister N Cheluvarayaswamy to think aloud about applying brakes on registration of new vehicles to check the worsening traffic scenario.

“We are thinking of restricting one car per family atleast in congested cities like Bangalore and Mysore. I know there will be opposition to this and it needs strong political will. But, we think this might be a feasible option”, Cheluvarayaswamy told reporters.

He also proposed to ban movement of certain types of vehicles on select roads. The collection of congestion fee on certain roads of the City is also among the steps mooted by the Government.

The Transport Minister contended that there are several countries that restrict the number of cars per family in a bid to reduce sound and air pollution. However, he made it clear that the discussions were still in the preliminary stage. “The discussions are still in the initial stage. There is a need to conduct a survey and analyze vehicular ownership pattern before any concrete step is taken in the direction”, he said.

Presently, Bangalore has close to three million vehicles, but 75 per cent of them are two-wheelers. The vehicular population in Bangalore had risen dramatically since the year 2000 when the City had just 1.3 million vehicles. With the vehicular population more than doubling during the last seven years, the authorities are clearly worried about the scenario going out of hand.