New Delhi, April 18: The top four Indian cities are today 149 per cent more congested than comparable cities in Asia and the country is losing over $22 billion a year in peak traffic hours compared to travel time during non-peak hours in those cities, an Uber-commissioned study revealed on Wednesday.
On average, commuters in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kolkata are taking 1.5 times longer to travel a given distance and ridesharing or shared mobility is the only solution to get rid of the traffic menace, said the study titled "Unlocking Cities: The impact of ridesharing across India" by the Boston Consulting Group (BCG).
"We continue to be at the forefront when it comes to unlocking the true potential of ridesharing for India. Through this study, we are hoping to draw the attention of administrators and urban planners on how shared cars and mobility can be part of the solution vs individual car ownership," Amit Jain, President, Uber India and South Asia, told reporters here.
According to the BCG survey, up to 89 per cent of people plan to buy a new car in the next five years.
However, over 79 per cent would refrain from buying a car if ridesharing matches car ownership for affordability and convenience, it added.
The study was launched in the presence of Uber's Global COO Barney Harford, Suresh Subudhi, Partner, BCG and Ann Lavin, Senior Director, Public Policy and Government Relations, Uber APAC.
"If car ownership trends continue, Indian cities risk coming to a complete standstill in only a few years," said Harford.
"Ridesharing can be part of the solution to traffic congestion because it uses technology to get more people into fewer cars. We can unlock our cities and their full potential, but we have to do it together," he added.
In these circumstances, ridesharing would reduce private cars by 33-68 per cent.
By reducing private cars, increasing vehicle utilisation, improving public transport adoption, and optimising infrastructure planning, ridesharing could reduce congestion by 17-31 per cent, the findings showed.
"In the coming months, we will introduce several India-first innovations that will help bring the benefits of ridesharing to many more Indians and enable us to work with the government towards a common goal: reduce private car ownership and expand access to public transit systems," Jain noted.
Overall, travel by public transport accounts for 19 per cent and 54 per cent of kms travelled in Delhi and Mumbai, respectively.
On average, 25 per cent of the private car owners surveyed in Delhi and Mumbai expressed a keen interest in becoming rideshare drivers.
"On-demand ride sharing is a practical way to reduce the number of private vehicles on the road and reduce congestion. It is important to encourage this proactively," said Suresh Subudhi, Global Sector Head -- Infrastructure and Transport, BCG.
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Trouble ‘Miyas’ everywhere only then they will leave Assam: Himanta Biswa Sarma
Says “Himanta Biswa Sarma, BJP are openly against them, we are saying it openly
New Delhi: Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said that four to five lakh “Miya voters” would be removed from the electoral rolls in the state once the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists is carried out. He also made a series of controversial remarks openly targeting the Miya community, a term commonly used in Assam in a derogatory sense to refer to Bengali-speaking Muslims.
Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of an official programme in Digboi in Tinsukia district, Sarma said it was his responsibility to create difficulties for the Miya community and claimed that both he and the BJP were “directly against Miyas”.
“Four to five lakh Miya votes will have to be deleted in Assam when the SIR happens,” Sarma said, adding that such voters “should ideally not be allowed to vote in Assam, but in Bangladesh”. He asserted that the government was ensuring that they would not be able to vote in the state.
The chief minister was responding to questions about notices issued to thousands of Bengali-speaking Muslims during the claims and objections phase of the ongoing Special Revision (SR) of electoral rolls in Assam. While the Election Commission is conducting SIR exercises in 12 states and Union Territories, Assam is currently undergoing an SR, which is usually meant for routine updates.
Calling the current SR “preliminary”, Sarma said that a full-fledged SIR in Assam would lead to large-scale deletion of Miya voters. He said he was unconcerned about criticism from opposition parties over the issue.
“Let the Congress abuse me as much as they want. My job is to make the Miya people suffer,” Sarma said. He claimed that complaints filed against members of the community were done on his instructions and that he had encouraged BJP workers to keep filing complaints.
“I have told people wherever possible they should fill Form 7 so that they have to run around a little and are troubled,” he said, adding that such actions were meant to send a message that “the Assamese people are still living”.
In remarks that drew further outrage, Sarma urged people to trouble members of the Miya community in everyday life, claiming that “only if they face troubles will they leave Assam”. He also accused the media of sympathising with the community and warned journalists against such coverage.
“So you all should also trouble, and you should not do news that sympathise with them. There will be love jihad in your own house.” He said.
The comments triggered reactions from opposition leaders. Raijor Dal president and MLA Akhil Gogoi said the people of Assam had not elected Sarma to keep one community under constant pressure. Congress leader Aman Wadud accused the chief minister of rendering the Constitution meaningless in the state, saying his remarks showed a complete disregard for constitutional values.
According to the draft electoral rolls published on December 27, Assam currently has 2.51 crore voters. Election officials said 4.78 lakh names were marked as deceased, 5.23 lakh as having shifted, and 53,619 duplicate entries were removed during the revision process. Authorities also claimed that verification had been completed for over 61 lakh households.
On January 25, six opposition parties the Congress, Raijor Dal, Assam Jatiya Parishad, CPI, CPI(M) and CPI(M-L) submitted a memorandum to the state’s chief electoral officer. They alleged widespread legal violations, political interference and selective targeting of genuine voters during the SR exercise, describing it as arbitrary, unlawful and unconstitutional.
