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Delhi

Poor public transport adds to Gurgaon’s rising air pollution levels

Poor public transport system of Gurgaon has been posing a major challenge in the city’s attempt to clean its deteriorating air quality. 

With limited options of public transport, commuters are mostly dependent on private vehicles for the last-mile connectivity.

Even as the city has a Metro line, a Rapid Metro line, autorickshaws and bus service, these are operational only in certain areas and are not enough to meet the needs of the residents, especially office-goers who tread to the city daily to earn a livelihood.  

The Delhi Metro line and the Rapid Metro of Gurgaon do not cover the old parts of the city, making residents of the area dependant on other means of transportation such as diesel-run shared autorickshaws and private buses.

Over 30,000 autorickshaws ply in the city. Of these,  around 15,000 are diesel-run shared autorickshaws. The presence of a large number of diesel-run autorickshaws is a major source of pollution in the city. 

Moreover, there are not enough E-rickshaws, which have been introduced by the authorities to phase out diesel-run autorickshaws due to rising pollution.

While there are plans of extending the Delhi Metro route to the old city through Dwarka in Delhi, at present, the line only covers limited areas of Sikanderpur, MG Road, IFFCO Chowk and HUDA City Centre in the city. 

Even after the completion of its second phase, the Rapid Metro line will only be able to add areas of certain sectors like Sector 54, 56, DLF Phase 1 and commercial area of Cyber city.

Highlighting poor transportation in the city, Dhruv Bansal of the Gurgaon Citizen Council said, “The Metro exists only in some posh areas and is only beneficial to people working around Cyber City. People working in areas such as Sohna Road, Sector 32 and Udyog Vihar 6 to name a few have tough time to commute.” 

Bansal added that the public transport system in the city had many flaws and women commuters often avoided the diesel-run shared autorickshaws and private bus services due to safety issues.

Travel woes

1. Commuters are mostly dependent on private vehicles for the last-mile connectivity
 
2. Even as the city has a Metro line, a Rapid Metro line, autorickshaws and bus service, they are not enough to meet the needs of the residents
  
3. Over 30,000 autos ply in the city
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