The Union Ministry of Urban Development has announced a multi-crore package and recommended an array of measures to decongest Delhi. A lump sum of Rs 19,762 crore has been sanctioned to develop seven pilot parking management districts, integrate 207 metro stations with other forms of public transit systems, construct cycling tracks and footpaths and remove choke points across the national capital, The Hindu reported.

The Centre acted on the recommendations of a high-power committee set up last year to find ways to decongest the capital. As a first step toward a people-friendly transport system, the ministry will deploy a fleet of 2,000 buses in the coming months and add 4,000 more later. “The explosive growth in automobile population needs to be checked quickly by adopting a carrot-and-stick policy of enabling increased use of public and non-motorised transport and dis-incentivising use of private vehicles through deterrent parking prices and congestion tax,” a ministry spokesperson said.

The committee has also recommended not constructing more flyovers or widening roads. It has suggested that gated communities be turned into free zones so people can walk through them and use those as short-cuts. The ministry is also mulling over setting up a Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority.