The massive rise in air pollution levels in 2011 was a major worry for the government. Attempts to bring down pollution levels will be its priority in the coming year, say senior government officials. To begin with, air pollution monitoring and forecasting systems will be set up across the city not only to indicate health impacts of air pollutants but also to help the government frame new policies to deal with the menace.

The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) has welcomed the Municipal Corporation of Delhi's proposal to hike parking charges as a step towards further reform. Stating that the city needs high parking charges to control traffic chaos and dampen parking demand and car usage and that the higher revenue from increased parking charges should be reinvested to improve public transport, CSE noted that parking crisis and traffic congestion are the result of growing dependence on cars and availability of cheap and free parking.

Delhiites may soon need to pay for driving into a congested area in the city during peak-hour traffic with the city Government seriously considering introduction of such fee to discourage people from using private vehicles. “It is under consideration,” Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit said when asked about the long-debated proposal. Senior officials, however, said no concrete decision has been taken on the issue and it is still in the discussion stage. If introduced, Delhi will become the first city in the country to impose congestion tax on motorists.

New Delhi: Years after the Delhi government spoke about introducing a special tax in parts of the city to check the growing number of vehicles, congestion tax is back on the discussion board. The document submitted to the Planning Commission that outlined priorities for the 12th five-year plan (2012-17) mentioned the need for taking a range of bold steps to cut down the number of private vehicles in the city.

Unable to find a clear line about the mode of congestion tax, the Delhi Government is all set to conduct a costly study to levy/tax on congestion in the national Capital. As per the proposal, the study that will cost Rs 20 crore will be completed in nine months. The policy could be implemented through Build Operate Transfer (BOT) method.

Delhi may soon become the first city in the country to levy congestion charges on vehicles following the recommendation of a special team constituted by the Delhi High Court to address the capital