The Union urban development ministry has asked the states to expedite setting up of Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority (UMTA) to ensure better traffic management in the cities having a population of more than one million.
The UMTA is seen as a solution to most of the problems related to public and private transport, parking policy and other related matters. So far, only Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Mumbai have come up with authorities that have an all encompassing role in traffic management, planning and upgradation. They are also backed by statutory provisions. Delhi too has proposed UMTA but has so far not been able to set up one on account of multiplicity of authorities.
The ministry has also asked the states seeking funds under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM) to set up a dedicated urban transport fund as well as bring out the necessary changes in the by-laws and master plans of the cities to make the authority effective. Experts have pointed out while all the UMTA’s set up so far were recommendatory in nature and were not implementing bodies, which may create problem in the plans actually fructifying. They maintained that their performance would have to be reviewed over a period of time to see how effective they can be in solving and upgrading transport facilities in the city.