BENGALURU: At a time when the National Green Tribunal is deliberating on its order banning 10-year-old diesel vehicles in Delhi and NCR, Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari has proposed giving an incentive of Rs 1.5 lakh to those who surrender old vehicles. Experts in Bengaluru, though, feel it may take some time for the proposal to become a reality, given the financial implications.
HS Sudheera, director of Gubbi Labs, and land-use and transportation expert, is sceptical of the states' response to the Centre's offer. "If people will be incentivized to sell their old vehicles, who will pay the compensation? States might not want to part away with revenue from their kitty. The proposal may take some time to fructify," Sudheera felt.
He, however, said phasing out very old vehicles will help check air pollution since they could be contributing to 20%-30% of it in Bengaluru.
But when does a vehicle become old enough to be taken off the road? Every state has its own cap on the age of vehicles eligible for renewal of fitness or scrapping. In Karnataka, over 15-year-old vehicles are eligible for fitness renewal every year, or they have to be dumped. For public or freight transport vehicles, the period is 10 years.
Experts, however, said it is impossible to have modified rules for every state if the intention is to phase out %old vehicles.
"The Centre should come up with a uniform regulation that all Regional Transport Authorities (RTAs) must follow. Ideally, the government should ban public transport or freight carriers which are over 10 years old because they ply more and pollute more. But in case of private vehicles, the government should limit the cap to 15 years and above," said MN Sreehari, transport and traffic expert.
