Daijiworld Media Network – Mangaluru (DV)

Mangaluru, Jul 19: With the registration of new two-wheelers and four-wheelers rising in the last three years, commoners are suffering the brunt of dense traffic in the city. The rise in number has also compounded the parking problem within the city. Also, reckless driving of buses and the negligence of pedestrians has also led to an increase in road accidents.

Though the police have taken several measures to ensure the free flow of traffic, it is increasingly becoming difficult for the department to control traffic at prominent junctions. In spite of the fact that Mangaluru is getting spruced up as a ‘Smart City’, it remains a challenge for the police to control heavy movement of vehicular traffic and meagre space available for parking within the city.

Commuters and motorists are therefore forced to park their vehicles on the road at several places in the city. Some are parking their vehicles on the roadside or on the footpath even in the ‘no parking’ zones. As the city lacks proper parking facility even in commercial complexes, many of them are parking their vehicles on the roadside. The pedestrians are thus left with little space to walk or for that matter park their vehicles properly.

The issue of parking has been discussed in the Mangaluru City Corporation council meeting.

Increase in the number of registration of vehicles

As per information available with regional transport office, in 2022-23, as many as 43,356 vehicles got registered including four-wheelers, two-wheelers and goods carriers, which is an increase over previous years.

According to sources in the Mangaluru RTO, in 2022-23, as many as 29,611 two-wheelers, and 9,431 motor cars were registered. During this period 1,503 goods carriers and 2,185 three-wheelers were also registered.

In 2021-22, as many as 23,612 two-wheelers and 7,687 cars were registered.

As traffic has increased in the city, negligent driving has also risen leading to rise in the number of deaths. In 2023 (January to June) as many as 485 accidents were reported under the Mangaluru police commissionerate limits of which 79 of them were fatal. Many were injured in accidents.