Raising alarm over worsening urban congestion, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) Rajya Sabha MP Raghav Chadha on Friday said commuters in India's major metro cities are losing over 100 hours every year stuck in traffic, calling for urgent policy intervention to address the growing crisis.
Speaking in Parliament and later sharing a clip of his remarks on social media, Chadha said cities such as Bengaluru, Mumbai and Delhi have effectively turned into “giant parking lots,” where people spend hours idling on roads rather than commuting efficiently. Citing global traffic data, he noted that an average commuter spends between 100 and 168 hours annually stuck in traffic.
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Traffic has turned our metro cities into giant parking lots with people trapped inside them.
— Raghav Chadha (@raghav_chadha) March 27, 2026
In Bengaluru, Pune, Mumbai, Kolkata, Delhi and Chennai, on average a commuter spends 100 to 168 hours a year stuck in traffic . Not commuting. Just sitting.
Every hour lost is an hour… pic.twitter.com/25ljpjNnme
“In cities like Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi and others, people are not commuting, they are just sitting,” he said, underlining the scale of the issue. According to the data he referenced, Bengaluru alone accounts for nearly 168 hours lost per commuter annually, while Delhi sees over 100 hours lost in congestion.
Chadha highlighted that the consequences of traffic congestion go beyond inconvenience, affecting economic productivity, fuel consumption, public health and overall quality of life. “Every hour lost is an hour the country cannot get back,” he said, adding that prolonged traffic jams lead to wasted fuel, increased air pollution and rising stress levels among commuters.
Pointing to the scale of the problem, he said the rapid increase in private vehicles is worsening congestion across cities. He warned that without timely intervention, the situation could deteriorate further, slowing down economic momentum in urban centres that drive India's growth.
Calling for a comprehensive solution, Chadha proposed the creation of a “National Urban Decongestion Mission.” The plan, he said, should focus on strengthening public transport systems, deploying smart traffic management technologies and introducing a scientific parking policy to regulate vehicle flow.
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He also identified key congestion hotspots across major cities, including arterial roads and commercial hubs, where traffic bottlenecks routinely disrupt daily life. In many cases, he noted, commuters are forced to attend work calls from their vehicles due to prolonged delays.
“We are not stuck in traffic; we are stuck because of it,” Chadha said, warning that unless India's cities are made more mobile, the country's broader economic ambitions could face significant hurdles.
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