Kottayam: Kerala’s vehicular population has officially breached the 1.10-crore mark even though there has been no proportional increase in road space.
In addition to this, the state’s roads also accommodate vehicles registered in other States that ply here, which comes around 33,00,000.
The sky-rocketing vehicular population, which leads to traffic congestion and mounting automobile pollution, could be attributed to the poor state of the public transport system.
There has been a sharp increase in the registration of personal vehicles, whereas the public modes transport registered in the state showed a declining trend.
The number of privates buses in the State has come down to 16,000 from 26,000 over the past two years.
The total number of privately-registered cars in the state rose to 2.15 lakhs in 2017 as compared to 1.89 lakhs registered in 2016. The number of two-wheelers has grown from 6.05 lakh in 2016 to 6.6 lakh in 2017.
Despite the economic slowdown, 9.4 lakhs new vehicles of all categories were being added to the vehicle population in the state in 2017. The numbers was 8.61 lakhs in 2016.
As per latest statistics, total road length in Kerala is 3.3 lakh kilometers. If the total population is divided by the total registered vehicles, one among every three Keralites owns a motor vehicle.
Many of the proposed road development projects in the state, including construction and widening works, are in limbo due to disputes over land acquisition and other issues.
The existing road infrastructure in Kerala remains unsustainable as the vehicle population continues to grow at a brisk pace. With the data showing a sharp decline in public commuting facilities, the motor vehicles department has recommended to the state government to sanction more autorickshaw and bus permits in corporations.
At present, there are around 4,000 autorickshaws operating in Kochi and Kozhikode. The department has sought permits for an additional 2,000 three-wheelers each in these two cities.
After the government approved a similar proposal put forward by the MVD, the number of autorickshaws in Thiruvananthapuram has risen to 30,000.
In 2017, Ernakulam witnessed the maximum number of vehicle registrations in the state. Among cities, Kochi topped the list.
The number of new private buses hitting Kerala’s roads dropped from 1,858 in 2016 to 1,611 in 2017.
The highest number of newly registered vehicles was in Ernakulam district with 1.16 lakhs in 2017, that include 30,000 cars and 76,940 two-wheelers.
The capital district stood second with 1.11 lakhs (24,778 cars and 77,000 two-wheelers), followed by Malappuram with 95,265 vehicles (20,144 cars and 68,994 two-wheelers).
Thrissur and Kollam were in fourth and fifth spots respectively.