India, Jan. 24 -- Can Delhi genuinely address its mobility crisis, which contributes substantially to poor air quality and traffic congestion? Not if it focuses solely on short-term fixes, cautions OP Agarwal, the principal author of the National Urban Transport Policy-2006. Instead, he calls for long-term strategies, involving subject matter experts and decisive decision-making.

Former CEO of the non-profit WRI-India, Agarwal chaired the panel that drafted Delhi's 2019 parking policy. Earlier, as an Indian Administrative Service officer, he worked on investment approvals for the Delhi Metro in the mid-1990s.

Agarwal's recent book, Urban Transport: The India Story, is a reflection on the country's transport journey. In an interview with...