The government has proposed a ban for trucks over 15 years of age starting April 2016 to reduce emissions according to a report by Business Standard. The government had recently made another proposal that odd and even numbered private vehicles would run on alternate days in Delhi which didn’t go down too well with the public.
Vijay Chibber, Secretary, Minister of Transport and highways was quoted saying to Reuters that they are going to make 15 years the end of life for all commercial vehicles and that the order would be made public within 10 days while the ban would be implemented by April 1st next year.
Vinod Aggarwal, Chief Executive Officer for Volvo Eicher Commercial vehicles welcomed the decision. He was quoted saying that these vehicles have lived their lives and most of them do not comply with any emission norms. He further added that the move will create incremental demand for vehicles and address the issue of pollution to a large extent. Bal Malkit Singh, Managing Director, Bal Roadlines, on the other hand, was unhappy with the decision and said they (fleet operators) will oppose this decision by the government. He was quoted saying that the government cannot have age as criteria to remove vehicles from the road as these vehicles go to the RTO every year for a fitness test. He further went on to add that one may have a vehicle that runs 30,000 km a year while someone else might have a vehicle that runs 90,000 km a year and hence it wouldn’t be right to ban trucks by their age.
13 of the 20 most polluted cities are in India according to a World Health Organization (WHO) report. The government will be able to impose the ban by amending the Motor Vehicles Act and the Central Motor Vehicles Rule. An estimated 2 million trucks were registered in the year 2000 alone and the trucks are allowed to ply on a national permit for 15 years after which they are used only with a state permit for local transportation of goods under the Central Motor Vehicles rule.
Image Courtesy: Indian Express