Chandigarh metro or no metro?: As debate went on, 4.68 lakh new vehicles entered city roads in last 10 years

It was in 2014 that the then newly elected MP, Kirron Kher, said that “she wouldn’t let the city be uprooted for Metro,” which according to her was not viable for Chandigarh.

At every Administrator’s Advisory Council meeting, many representatives would discuss a metro rail. After almost 10 years of debating, in March last year, a metro rail was approved for Chandigarh and the tricity area. A major part of the metro would be in Mohali in Punjab, followed by Chandigarh and Panchkula in Haryana.

The approval came at a high-level meeting of officials from Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh, where was Kher was not present.

While the debate to have a metro or not went on, Chandigarh, a city that boasts of the highest vehicle density in the country, found its roads creaking as new vehicles kept adding.

Vinod Vashisht, convener of the City Forum of Residents Welfare Organisations, said, “While both the governments of Punjab and Haryana gave their formal clearance to the Chandigarh capital region metro project in July 2023, the weak local leadership of Chandigarh with not much influence in the Union government is seen to bring up the ‘metro or monorail’ debates time and again in order to cover up conspicuous delays in the start of the metro project and budgetary allocations for it. With ever-increasing traffic, the city is fast becoming multiple traffic bottlenecks at many entry points and junctions during peak hours.”

Even as a fresh detailed project report of the metro rail is underway, urban planning experts still consider the metro a non-viable option for the city. They suggest further strengthening of public transport with the likes of smart buses instead.

Post Covid, more cars than two-wheelers

Prior to the Covid year of 2020, more two-wheelers than four-wheelers were registered in Chandigarh. After Covid, however, residents began buying more four-wheelers to ensure private space.

In 2014, 29,859 two-wheelers and 21,476 cars were registered in Chandigarh, while 28,936 two-wheelers and 21,365 cars were registered in 2015. In 2016 and 2017, Chandigarh added 28,794 and 30,341 two-wheelers, respectively, while 21,073 and 21,765 new cars were added, respectively.

All these years, the number of electric vehicles registered in the city was zero, except in 2017, when 13 electric cars and one electric two-wheeler were added.

In 2018, 2019 and 2020, as many as 29,698, then 25,698 and 15,148 two-wheelers were registered in Chandigarh. As for the new cars registered in these years, the figures are respectively 20,120, 18,975 and 15,402. However, after 2020, four-wheeler registrations overtook two-wheeler registrations.

In 2021, as many as 20,437 cars were registered while 16,527 two-wheelers were added. In 2022, there were 21,829 new two-wheelers and 25,415 new four-wheelers. In 2023, car registrations beat the two-wheeler registrations again as 26,515 cars and 20,278 two-wheelers were added.

And in the first three months of this year, Chandigarh has added 7,966 cars and two-wheelers.

Electric vehicle registrations picked up from 2021 onwards

While in 2018 and 2019, only 33 and 27 electric vehicles were registered, the figures have picked up since 2021. In 2021 there were 122 new electric two-wheelers and 123 new electric four-wheelers, while in 2022 as many as 752 electric two-wheelers and 254 electric four-wheelers were registered. Similarly in 2023, the numbers shot up with 2,103 electric two-wheelers and 767 electric four-wheelers added.