Tata Nano contributed to traffic congestion, says minister Mansukh Mandaviya

New Delhi - Minister of State for Road, Transport, Highway and Shipping Mansukh Mandaviya on Wednesday said Tata Motor’s Nano car disturbed the urban road transport by adding to the traffic congestion. “Though homegrown automaker Tata Motors introduced its Nano car within a price bracket of Rs 1.5 lakh to Rs 2 lakh for middle class buyers, but in a way it disturbed urban road transport by only adding to the traffic congestion,” said Mandaviya at the inauguration of Assocham’s event on ‘Sustainable Urban Road Transport’. [caption id=“attachment_3168072” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Tata Nano. Reuters[/caption] The minister pointed to the need for celebrities and ‘VVIPs’ to ride bicycles to promote more sustainable and friendly form of urban mobility. “Increasing number of celebrities and VVIPs should ride bicycles to promote a more sustainable and friendly form of urban mobility. More influential people should begin to embrace the bicycle as an alternative for stimulating a more sustainable urban mobility,” said Mandaviya. In addition, Mandaviya elaborated on the need to promote inland water transport. He stated that there is a need to come up with indigenous model based on traditional ways and means as that would be more apt for Indian conditions. “It is not necessary that a model which has been successful in a particular country will also prove to be fruitful for India… we need to devise our own model to tackle our problems,” he said.