'Improve public transport first': Bhure Lal, Chairman Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority

Parking lots can’t be created at the expense of environment.

Bhure Lal, Chairman of Supreme Court-appointed Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority says:

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Parking lots can’t be created at the expense of environment.

If green areas are converted into parking lots, where will our children play? What will happen to the lungs of the city? Won’t it have an adverse effect on the health of the society? Converting green covers into parking lots will not solve the problem.

We need to strengthen our public transport to such an extent that people don’t feel the need to use private vehicles. Our public transport system should be efficient, fast and reliable. A clear example of this is the Metro and the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system.

In Delhi, people feel it is their right to park their vehicles on the road. It happens in Lajpat Nagar’s Central Market. Cars are parked everywhere making it impossible for pedestrians to walk and shop.

As a policy issue, we are quite clear that green cover must not be touched for creating any kind of parking facility. The simple logic is no park can be restored to its original shape after a parking lot has been constructed underneath it.

To discourage use of private vehicles stricter norms should be enforced as is done in London and Singapore.

(As told to HT Reporter Neelam Pandey)