Rising Costs and Limited Commute Options Challenge Residents

Worrying trends in accidents and rising pollution

Indore has seen a steady rise in road accidents. In 2022, the city accounted for six per cent of all road accidents in Madhya Pradesh. Fatalities have also increased.

Public transport needs to be strengthened urgently. A study by the Environment Planning and Coordination Organisation (EPCO) found that buses currently serve only 19 per cent of transport demand. Indore has just 0.95 buses per 1,000 residents, far below required levels. By 2025, the city is expected to see 5.5 million daily journeys, half of which should ideally be covered by public transport. Both availability and safety must be addressed.

On April 9, this year, Indore’s PM2.5 level spiked to 29.

In 2024 so far, air quality has been rated ‘good’ on only nine days, ‘satisfactory’ on 126 days, ‘poor’ on 45 days, ‘very poor’ on four days, and ‘severely polluted’ on November 1, when the reading reached 406.

According to the Madhya Pradesh Pollution Control Board’s 2023 dashboard, Indore consistently recorded poor PM10 levels throughout the year, averaging 110 — almost twice the acceptable annual standard of 60. In 2022, the average was even higher at 121.

These figures raise serious questions about the credibility of Indore’s ‘cleanest city’ status.

Vehicle emissions are a major contributor. Between 2015 and 2020, 55 per cent of vehicles registered in Indore ran on petrol, 40 per cent on diesel, only four per cent on CNG, and just one per cent were electric. Among these, electric cars and buses were the least represented.

To tackle this, the government has proposed retiring vehicles older than 15 years, converting all buses to CNG, and mandating CNG use for autos and taxis. Tree plantation drives are also being promoted as part of the solution.

This article is part of our series on how India moves, which looks at the relationship between air quality and human mobility in cities and towns.

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