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Uttarakhand’s capital Dehradun is no longer the paragon of a touristy city nestled within the Doon valley. Instead, long traffic jams, air pollution and rising heat have annoyed the residents as they helplessly witness the decline of their once-cherished homeland.
Megha Pant is one such resident.
She covers herself from head to toe with cotton scarf, sunglasses, long gloves and a face mask before she ventures out for her commute in the oppressive May heat and air pollution levels that have little resemblance to the ambience of a Himalayan valley.
Before switching on the power button on her scooter, she prays for a safe journey and then begins her daily struggle to reach her destination, navigating through congested Dehradun’s erratic road traffic.
Mother to a child, 38-year-old Pant is associated with a direct selling company in Dehradun. From official meetings to client visits, she travels at least 20-25 kilometers daily across the city. She told Down To Earth (DTE) that there are some days in the month when she has to travel almost 50 kilometres.
“After the lockdown [COVID-19 containment], I learned to ride a scooter. Before that, I used to commute by shared autorickshaw (colloquially popular as Vikram). Even now, if any family member takes the scooter, I sometimes have to travel by the congested Vikram. The experience is getting worse with every passing day,” she said.
“Vikram begins to move from its stop when its seating capacity is full to the brim. Ideally, there should be three passengers on two seats at the back and one with the driver. But they put four people on the back, and if they could, they’d fit five,” she rued.
She complained that in the scorching heat, passengers have to sit squished together.
“Dust, smoke, dirt, and noise come in from the open windows on both sides. We have to attend meetings upon reaching the office, but it feels as if the mindspace has been contaminated by the onslaught during the commute. It’s a kind of torture that you endure because there’s no other option,” Pant said.
The scooter ride has made Pant’s life easier.
“Earlier, it took me one to one and a half hours to travel from my home in Jogiwala to Rajpur Road — a stretch of seven-eight kilometres. I had to change two Vikrams and wait for passengers to fill. Now, even in traffic jams, I reach in 30-40 minutes by scooter,” she said, breathing a sigh of relief.
At one of the busiest intersections near the Rispana bridge in the city, there was a heavy presence of private cars and two-wheeled vehicles.
Car windows were rolled up.
Those traveling by public transport had faces covered with sweat and dust, trying to protect themselves with handkerchiefs, scarves and umbrellas.
Close to the intersection, a nurse named Shalini Sharma, with her face covered by a scarf and carrying an umbrella, was walking briskly.
“I prefer walking. I don’t like waiting for Vikram. It takes me about half an hour to reach the hospital on foot,” Sharma told DTE.
According to her, there are some sidewalks in certain areas of the city suitable for walking safely, but where there aren’t sidewalks, walking is not a safe option amid frenzied traffic.
Meanwhile, Praveen Kumar, who has been driving Vikram for the past 25 years in Dehradun, told DTE that the seven kilometre distance from Resplendent Bridge to the bus terminal, which used to take 30-40 minutes with passengers, now takes about an hour, sometimes even more.
“In Dehradun, most people need to travel 10-15 kilometers to get from one part of the city to another. Most people travel within a five-seven kilometre range for office or other work. There are only two main public transport options — Vikram and buses. There are a few e-rickshaws as well. The old city buses are in terrible condition,” he shared.
Echoing the driver’s musings on the state of mobility in the city, Devinder Pal Singh Monty, president of the Dehradun Resident Welfare Front and former councilor, expressed concern over the growing traffic in the city.
“As Dehradun is now deemed as a smart city, some electric buses have been introduced, but their routes are long and cover the entire district rather than the urban centres within the city. Short routes have not been established. Only two electric buses are assigned to a route, so it’s uncertain how long it will take for the next one to arrive,” he told DTE.
“In the past 10 years, the number of privately owned cars have skyrocketed rapidly on the city’s roads, and the use of public transport has decreased. As a result, both traffic jams and pollution have increased. During school and office hours, the entire city is jammed. These jams happen mainly at specific spots like Ghantaghar, EC Road, Saharanpur Chowk, Prince Hotel, and Rajpur Road. Most of the city’s traffic passes through these spots,” he added.
The number of vehicles on Dehradun’s roads continues to rise, but the state of public transport remains deeply concerning.
According to data provided by the Uttarakhand Transport Corporation (UTC), as of April, 2025, over 1.05 million vehicles are registered in the city.
Of these, private vehicles account for nearly 94 per cent, while public transport accounts for only 2.26 per cent.
According to the Uttarakhand Transport Corporation, as of April 2025, there are a total of 23,832 public transport vehicles registered in the city.
This includes 2,453 stage carriage and contract carriage vehicles. Among them, there are 250 city buses, and the rest are diesel-powered Vikrams. Stage carriage vehicles operate with regular stops, while contract carriage vehicles are booking-based. In addition, there are 12,409 motor cabs, 5,213 maxi cabs, 424 Omni buses, and 2,180 auto rickshaws.
In private vehicles, the city has 709,035 two-wheelers and 286,219 cars used privately. In total, this makes up 995,254 private vehicles.
As for electric vehicles, the city has 7,811 two-wheelers, 3,106 e-rickshaws, 188 e-carts, 893 e-cars, and 39 e-buses.
Other commercial vehicles include recovery vans, construction vehicles, ambulances, tractors, trolleys, water tankers, and various vehicles of government and semi-government institutions.
Looking at the data from the transport corporation, the number of vehicles has increased by about 1,300 per cent over the past 20 years.
In 2004-05, the total number of vehicles on Dehradun’s roads was over 70,000. By the next decade, i.e., 2014-15, this number had increased by about 186 per cent, crossing the 200,000 mark. In the following decade, i.e. by 2025, this number has increased fivefold to surpass a million.
During this time, the city’s population has also grown rapidly. According to the Mussoorie Dehradun Development Authority’s Dehradun Master Plan, the total population of the Dehradun planning area was about 950,000 according to the 2011 census, with around 900,000 living in urban areas and the rest in rural areas.
According to the master plan, the city’s population grew at an average rate of 32.6 per cent over the last ten years. Based on this, the population is estimated to be 1.26 million by 2021 and over 1.4 million by 2025.
Given this increase in population, the availability of public transport is extremely limited. There are only 17 public vehicle for every 1,000 people.
This means there is one public transport vehicle for every 60 people, but most of these are 3-7 seat auto rickshaws and Vikrams. In this regard, there are only 10-15 seats available for every 1,000 people, while urban transport standards suggest that this number should be between 30 and 50 seats. Along with the number of public transport vehicles, the city is falling short in terms of capacity and coverage as well.
In a mobility report prepared for Dehradun, Rishikesh and Haridwar, Dehradun was flagged as a city with concerns in its public transport system. According to the report, private buses only operate on profitable routes, leaving many areas of the city without public transport access. The report recommends increasing the number of buses in the city and expanding coverage.
Sandeep Saini, Dehradun’s Regional Transport Officer explained that most drivers of public transport vehicles take permits for routes that are more profitable and busy, leaving many parts of the city uncovered.
“Strengthening last-mile connectivity and making public transport more comfortable are crucial if people are to prefer public transport over private vehicles,” he told DTE.
The number of road accidents and fatalities in Dehradun continue to rise. According to data provided by Uttarakhand Police’s Traffic Directorate, 246 road accidents were recorded in Dehradun in 2020, resulting in 115 deaths.
In 2021, the number of accidents increased to 365, with 165 deaths. In 2022, 465 accidents were reported, with 177 fatalities. In 2023, the number rose further — 481 accidents with 201 deaths. The situation remained severe in 2024, with 470 accidents and 185 deaths.
A Greenpeace report mentioned that in 2017, the annual PM-10 level in Dehradun reached 238, placing the city among areas with poor air quality. Following this report, the need for the Dehradun Clean Air Action Plan was felt, which identified vehicle emissions as the primary cause of high levels of PM 10 and PM 2.5 in the air.
To address worsening air quality, Dehradun, along with two other cities in Uttarakhand, was included in the National Clean Air Action Plan (NCAP). According to the NCAP dashboard, while the PM 10 levels in Dehradun improved between 2018 and 2024, they still remain well above the prescribed standards.
The deteriorating air quality is severely affecting the health of the residents of Dehradun. A study on the impact of air pollution on health found that micro-particles like PM 10 and PM 2.5, which go deep into the lungs, increase the risk of respiratory problems, bronchitis, asthma, heart diseases and even lung cancer.
Dr. Rakhi Kanduri, head of the Chest and Respiratory Diseases Department at Himalayan Jolly Grant Hospital in Dehradun, told DTE, “Like Delhi, Dehradun is also seeing severe impacts of air pollution on health. Children and young adults are becoming victims of respiratory diseases”.
“Even non-smokers’ lungs are affected like those of regular smokers. Cases of allergies, asthma, TB, and lung cancer are increasing. Just as cigarette smoke damages the lungs, harmful gases and chemicals from air pollution are reaching the lungs and weakening our immunity,” she remarked.
“Since I started working at Jolly Grant Hospital in 2012, we used to have 30-40 patients in our OPD daily. Today, this number has increased to 80-90. This means that in the last ten to twelve years, cases related to respiratory diseases have more than doubled,” the physician added.
The smoke from vehicles is taking a heavy toll on the health of Dehradun residents.
Sandeep Saini, the regional transport officer, explains, “To achieve a cleaner Dehradun, the state government introduced the Uttarakhand Clean Mobility Policy-2024, which aimed to convert public transport vehicles in Dehradun to cleaner fuels like CNG or vehicles meeting Euro-6 standards in the first phase. This included city buses, Vikrams and three-wheelers running on diesel. According to this policy, vehicles over 15 years old would be scrapped, and subsidies would be given for purchasing new CNG or Euro-6 model vehicles. However, under this policy, only 796 three-wheelers were converted to Euro-6, and not a single city bus transitioned to clean fuel.”
Saini points out that technical issues related to the software implementation limited the policy's effectiveness. The government is now preparing to reintroduce this policy.
Meanwhile, work on the Metro Neo system in Dehradun has been ongoing for the past eight years. Uttarakhand Metro Rail, Urban Infrastructure and Building Construction Corporation Limited have been established for this project. However, no ground-level work on this project has begun yet.
According to the central government’s 2017 Metro Rail Policy, traditional metro projects are approved only in cities with populations over two million. Since Dehradun's population is below this threshold, the state government adopted the Metro Neo system.
Former Managing Director of UKMRC, Jitendra Tyagi, states, “Considering Dehradun's narrow roads and current traffic jams, the 'Metro Neo' system is the best option. It can meet the city's transport needs for the next 50 years. This project will improve connectivity not just in Dehradun, but also between Haridwar and Rishikesh”.
Dehradun residents like Pant, who wish to escape the noise, smoke and dust from Vikrams and dilapidated city buses, are eagerly waiting for a better public transport system that can make travel more convenient.
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.