On most mornings, 45-year-old Hage sets out from her home in Itanagar to do the household shopping. She prefers to walk, a habit she’s maintained over her 20 years of living in Arunachal Pradesh’s capital. But now, walking has become increasingly difficult. “There are hardly any pedestrian routes except in some areas. I have to dodge traffic, jump puddles, and walk on broken roads,” she says.
Public transport isn’t an option either. A ride home from the market in a shared tempo costs her around Rs 50 a day. But if she takes an auto to her residence, it cost her Rs 200 per day. “That’s why we prefer to use our personal car, even if the roads are jammed,” she admitted. For Hage and many others, mobility has become a daily struggle, shaped by limited infrastructure and rising private vehicle dependence.
An office goer who lives in Vivek Vihar and commutes to his office in E-Sector shared similar sentiments. On clear roads, his drive takes 10-15 minutes. With traffic, it stretches to 25 minutes. He spends nearly Rs 6,000 a month on petrol alone.
“I would use public transport if it were more reliable,” he said. “But right now, using my private car is the only practical choice, even if it is getting too expensive.”
This growing reliance on private transport, however, comes at a cost, for individuals and the city’s environment.
Itanagar’s population stood at 59,490 in the 2011 Census. While current estimates suggest rapid growth, the city’s mobility infrastructure has failed to keep pace. According to Talo Potom, deputy commissioner of Itanagar Capital Region and chairman of Itanagar Planning Authority, around 1,200 new vehicles are registered every month. Sometimes, this number goes up to 1,500.
“Vehicles from other districts and even states like West Bengal, Bihar, Delhi, and Assam crowd our roads,” Potom said. “Mobility is becoming central to how the city functions and fails.”
The growing dependency on private vehicles has also affected those who run the city’s informal public transport system, such as tempo and trekker drivers.
Trekker drivers, who run between Itanagar and Naharlagun, are struggling to survive. One such driver, who has been in the profession for 15 years, said he’s considering quitting. “Back in the day, we charged Rs 10 per ride and earned enough to get by. I used to earn Rs 5,000 to Rs 6,000 a day. Now, with more people owning vehicles, customers have reduced drastically. At the end of the day, I am barely breaking even. I am thinking of quitting this altogether. Now, fuel costs have shot up, there are fewer passengers, and personal cars have taken over the roads,” he said. “These days, Rs 1,000 gets over in a day.”
Meanwhile, public transport in Itanagar is limited and increasingly neglected.
According to Dahey Sangno, chief executive of the Itanagar Smart City Development Corporation, the city has just 40 buses in operation, far fewer than required. “Earlier, buses dominated city roads. Today, private vehicles and small autos have taken over,” Sangno noted. “We have a plan worth Rs 500 crore under the Smart City Mission, which got extended till March 2025 due to COVID-19 delays and until this period, 80 per cent of the plan has been completed. But changing public perception and the mindset of the transport associations is a big hurdle,” he said. He added that despite awareness campaigns, the public still prefers their own vehicles, regardless of traffic jams or pollution.
With the rise in numbers of vehicles in the city, air pollution is also growing concern in Itanagar, though currently not deemed alarming. Not to mention that the city has only two air monitoring stations — one in Itanagar and another in Naharlagun for tracking PM2.5, PM10, SO2 and NO2 levels.
According to the Arunachal Pradesh Pollution Control Board, while the annual PM10 average is 66 (within the permissible limit), levels peak during the dry season. In January this year, PM10 spiked to 172, well above safe levels. Officials believe vehicular emissions, road dust, and even ongoing construction are contributing factors.
Despite increasing vehicle ownership, air pollution is not being directly correlated with health impacts yet. However, experts warn that the absence of data doesn’t mean the absence of harm.
Meanwhile, according to the Itanagar traffic police, two-wheelers and light motor vehicles are involved in most road accidents. Common causes include over speeding, poor road conditions, and drunk driving. Traffic congestion has become a regular feature especially around Bank Tinali and RKM/Ganga areas during peak hours (5:30 PM to 7:30 PM) in Itanagar.
Potom said the government is now seriously considering alternative modes of mobility. A ropeway system connecting Naharlagun Railway Station to key points like Polo Colony, IG Park, and Vivek Vihar has been in the pipeline for two years. “It’s almost approved,” he said. “We’re also exploring river-based transport from Chandannagar to Banderdewa, which could offer a cleaner, more efficient way to travel.”
But the roadblocks are plenty. “We don’t even have proper city buses right now,” he admitted. “We need air-conditioned buses with separate compartments for women. Public transport has to be reliable, clean and frequent. Only then will people start using it.”
Other long-term plans include improving internal connectivity through the upcoming Aerocity project at Hollongi. “The airport is already operational, and the Aerocity will provide a seamless connection. This will significantly reduce both costs and travel time,” Potom said.
According to him, Itanagar needs holistic infrastructure development, including the nearly complete four-lane highway, which is expected to ease congestion once operational. It is nearly done and will be ready in two to three months.
Itanagar’s terrain and urban sprawl also limit how much road expansion or pedestrian infrastructure is possible.
“We plan to have a total width of 12 metres for the road, with six metres of carriageway and three metres of footpath on each side. Within that twelve-metre width, you can arrange street furniture, benches, planters, drainage grates, and so on. If you go and look now, you’ll see very little available land: buildings have cantilevered balconies, and owners have already paid the full development cost, so you can’t just force them to give up that space without compensation,” said Sangno.
He added that building new sidewalks is a challenge when drainage and land encroachment are unresolved issues. “You can’t block drain lines during monsoons, and most roads are already squeezed,” he explained.
In Itanagar, mobility is no longer just about getting from one place to another. It is about navigating broken systems, a lack of planning foresight, and infrastructure that hasn’t evolved alongside rising incomes and car ownership.
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.