Traffic Jams are one of the biggest problems that Indians commuters have to face every day. May it be the route to your office, or you are on a way to a family lunch or dinner or you may be spending a weekend away with your friends, the first thing that will greet you on streets in traffic. And if you’re having a bad day, then you may get tangled in some of those long traffic jams that last for hours.

This is not a new story to anyone living in any part of India. The population of our country and the emigration of rural citizens to urban lands in search of jobs and business opportunities have made it more complicated. The metro cities are on the top when it comes to suffering hectic and everlasting traffic jams. 

What is the meaning of Traffic Congestion?
Traffic congestion is a transport condition, where the traffic on the streets has increased due to the usage of a large number of vehicles and is characterised by slower speeds, longer trip times, and increased vehicular queueing. 

In a recent research study that was conducted by TomTom, a navigation technology firm, 2 out of the 10 World’s most traffic-congested cities in the world, are from India. Delhi, having a population of 1.98 crores, stands at the 4th position of the list. And Mumbai, having a population of 1.84 crores, stands at number one position. Yes, Mumbai is the most traffic-congested city in the world.

The cities have been rated on the basis of congestion time spent on roads during traffics. For example, Mumbai, the city that tops the list, has 65% traffic congestion. It means that people of Mumbai spend 65% more time on streets during daily rush hours as compared to they would spend if the streets were traffic-free. 

The study was conducted in more than 400 cities across the world and the results shocked the world. These are the top 10 most traffic-congested cities around the world. 

1. Mumbai, India – 65%

2. Bogota, Colombia – 63%

3. Lima, Peru – 58%

4. New Delhi, India – 58%

5. Moscow, Russia – 56%

6. Istanbul, Turkey – 53%

7. Jakarta, Indonesia – 53%

8. Bangkok, Thailand – 53%

9. Mexico City, Mexico – 52%

10. Recife, Brazil – 49%

The study has been conducted in detail and is has shown that Mumbai has the least traffic congestion on its roads on March 2nd (Holi) i.e. 16%. It also showed that the roads of Mumbai were affected by the most traffic congestion on August 21st 2018 (Eid) i.e. 111%. That would mean that it would have taken people more than 2 hours to travel a route that would otherwise have been completed in an hour or less. 

Ralf-Peter Schaefer, a senior official of TomTom, has told that the results have shown that there is a great amount of increase in traffics on streets of various cities around the world. This is an indication of how the various economies are fostering globally which is a good thing. However, the other side of the coin also tells that the higher amount of time spend in traffic jams results in a lot of time being wasted of an individual on roads only. Also, it does is impacting the environment in a negative manner. 


If we look closely, then we ourselves can understand that traffic congestion in our hometowns or current city if the residence has increased by a notable rate and is increasing continuously. This is not a good sing at all as the amount of time spent on the streets is nothing but waste. Besides, it results in distress and headache while listening to all those horns. Not only this, while waiting for the roads to clear or traffic to move, sitting in your car or on a two-wheeler or a public transport vehicle, you have to come across harmful emissions coming from all the vehicles around including your own ride. This is causing various health issues such as irritation in eyes, migraine, respiratory problems and much more.

The move that was brought up by Delhi CM of running odd-numbered vehicles on odd days and even-numbered vehicles on even days was a great move. We need more innovative ideas like this to manage our traffic problem. The government shall take actions and collaborate with Traffic Police to make some improvements in traffic rules. Only this way we will be able to deal with traffic congestion and traffic-related problems specifically Air Pollution in India. 

We need to understand the seriousness of the growing population, traffic and pollution. If appropriate measures aren’t taken, then we might bring our cities, our environment and our planet in a stage from where no recovery measures are possible.

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