Justice Bilal Nazki on Tuesday asked the government if it wanted to make the poor suffer and provide facilities to the rich. The court was hearing a public interest litigation filed by the Bombay Environmental Action Group (BEAG) seeking the implementation of a traffic restraint system (TRS) in the city. The government has opposed the system, calling it unfeasible.After the court was told that 450 private cars are added to the city roads every day, the judges observed that only 10% of the city’s population uses cars and the rest use public transport.Arguing for the BEAG, advocate Shiraz Rustomji said public vehicles cannot move fast because of private vehicles congesting the roads. He termed TRS a pragmatic solution. The government should first try it before saying the system is unviable, he said.BEST buses have changed, Rustomji said, and even taxi drivers had converted their cabs to CNG at their own expense. “Is it not time the private transport - persons driving their cars - make a difference?”“We (car owners) too have to make some sacrifice,” Nazki said. “It is like making the poor suffer because they cannot afford a car.” Government counsel SK Nair said implementing TRS would make it difficult to force cars to turn back if they entered city limits on wrong days.But Nazki said, “If you cannot implement a law, it does not mean it should be scrapped. This is no logic.” He said some people did not wear helmets or put on seat belts, but that did not mean the law was faulty.It is impossible for any city in the world to improve infrastructure to keep pace with the rise in vehicular population. But some measures had to be taken, Nazki said. “This is like birth control. We can’t provide for the population so we say birth control is necessary.”In an affidavit filed by deputy commissioner of police (traffic) Shahaji Solunkhe, the state government suggested a couple of measures, including the implementation of a ‘high occupancy lane’ or a ‘fast lane’ on major arterial roads. The court, however, asked the government counsel how long it would take for the government to implement its proposed measures for traffic decongestion.The estimated time was six months, said Nair, but the Centre had to make the changes before the state could implement them. “Why don’t you (the state government) say that you want to maintain status quo?” Nazki said.