``The Rs 1600 crore that the state government is spending on the flyovers, is the amount that the RTO in Mumbai collects from new vehicles in just two years,'' said WIAA President Nitin Dossa addressing a press conference on Wednesday.

WIAA members say that while in other Asian countries, over 100 per cent of the taxes recovered from motorists is pumped back into the construction of new roads and bridges, in India it stands at an abysmal 25 per cent. The flyovers represented the government's first real commitment to improving road infrastructure.

The argument that building flyovers would increase the number of vehicles into the city is also a misnomer according to the WIAA. ``It's like saying that building more hospitals will attract more patients intothe city. The vehicle population is anyway on the rise irrespective of whether or not you're going to build flyovers,'' said Major General (retd) GS Kapoor, WIAA's secretary general.

However, WIAA members were equally critical of the state government for neglecting water transport in the city and upgrading rail transport. This despite the fact that Mumbai was best suited for water transport to ferry passengers and vehicles.

Another wrong impression was that flyovers were being created solely for car owners, says the WIAA. ``Flyovers will also be used by public transport vehicles like trucks, BEST buses and taxi cabs. Don't forget 40 lakh people travel in buses everyday,'' stated Niranjan Mehta, chairman of the WIAA's traffic sub-committee. Besides saving on fuel and reduction in pollution, the flyovers would also increase vehicle speeds all over the city.

Though the WIAA has some a lakh cars registered with it in Mumbai, it pooh-poohed claims of environmentalists that they formed a powerful automobilelobby. ``What lobby are they talking about? If there had been such a lobby would we have allowed the government to hike petrol prices year after year,'' Mehta said.

Dissuading car owners from purchasing cars was not the answer as the upper middle class who could afford them would continue to buy them. Surveys of WIAA members have shown that they drove to work because they were forced to do so. ``You can't expect a car owner to go by an overcrowded bus or train,'' said SM Bafna, adding that the government would have to provide better alternatives like AC buses and underground metros to convince motorists to leave their cars behind.

If car owners preferred to drive it was because the government had neglected public transport and had sabotaged private initiative at public transport like the Limouzine luxury bus service that folded up a few years back.