West Bengal govt to phase out 15-yr-old commercial vehicles

To combat air pollution in the city, the West Bengal government decided on Friday to make the registration numbers of the commercial vehicles that are 15 years old invalid to easily spot those. At a meeting chaired by Chief Secretary Rajiva Sinha at the state secretariat, the Trinamool Congress (TMC) government took a series of key decisions in line with National Green Tribunal (NGT) directives.

Besides taking decisions such as phasing out old, polluting conservancy vehicles by December 31, the meeting also reached a consensus as regards imposing a strict vigil on waste burning and an exemplary penalty against the violators, a source in the state secretariat said. The West Bengal Pollution Control Board (WBPCB) will step up its enforcement authority against stockpiling of fireworks not complying with noise and air pollution rules.

"There will be a special drive for creating green verges, penalty against destruction of greens and more incentives for creating an off-road parking infrastructure and discouraging on-street parking," the source said. It was also decided at the meeting that the old polluting "chullahs" will be replaced with low-emission electric or clean fuel ovens by December 31.

"The state government will also consider incentives for electric vehicles," the source said. "From now on, any commercial vehicle attaining the age of 15 years will get system-locked. No permit can be renewed against such a vehicle, no Pollution-Under-Control (PUC) certificate will be issued and no Certificate of Fitness (CF) will be provided to such vehicles," he added.