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Gurugram bans registration of diesel autos
The Haryana transport department has issued orders for a total ban on registration of diesel autorickshaws in Gurugram and other districts in the National Capital Region (NCR) to comply with a Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) order to curb air pollution, officials said on Friday
The Haryana transport department has issued orders for a total ban on registration of diesel autorickshaws in Gurugram and other districts in the National Capital Region (NCR) to comply with a Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) order to curb air pollution, officials said on Friday.
State transport officials said that from now onwards only CNG-run or electric autorickshaws will be registered in Gurugram and other NCR districts across Haryana, adding that the order came into effect from January 1, 2023.
Transport officials said that the order issued by the Haryana transport commissioner, has directed the district transport officers (DTOs), regional transport authorities (RTAs) and sub-divisional officers of Gurugram and others NCR districts to personally ensure that all diesel autorickshaws are phased out from the NCR by December 31, 2026.
Officials said that the commissioner has directed DTOs to ensure that not even a temporary registration number is issued for diesel autorickshaws. They said temporary numbers issued till January 4, will be allowed for registration via the Vahan portal.
Transport officials said that dealers and manufacturers started offering heavy discounts on diesel-run passenger and goods three-wheelers to clear stocks soon after they came to know about the CAQM order on December 1, 2022, for a total ban on their sales in the NCR from January 1, 2023.
Haryana transport minister Mool Chand Sharma, who was in Gurugram on Friday, said that the state government will continue to take necessary steps to curb air pollution. “At present, there are no more category-wise vehicle bans planned in the state,” he said.
A Gurugram RTA official said they had stopped registering diesel autorickshaws from last year itself on the directions of Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar.
“There are hardly 1,200-1,400 diesel-run transport or passenger rickshaws operating in the city right now and we are not even renewing their fitness certificates. We implemented the National Green Tribunal (NGT) order of removing 10-year-old diesel and 15-year-old petrol autorickshaws from Gurugram much before the deadline last year,” the RTA official said.
Yogesh Sharma, general secretary of Haryana Autorickshaw Drivers’ Association, alleged that earlier also the state government stopped registration of diesel autorickshaws but officials violated them. “We welcome the ban as it will help in curbing air pollution. But no backdoor registration should take place. In such cases, vehicle owners suffer as they spend lakhs on buying the vehicles,” he said.
According to Gurugram RTA officials, besides diesel autorickshaws, there are around 31 petrol autorickshaws, more than 8,970 petrol-cum-CNG autorickshaws, 14,600 CNG-run small autorickshaws and more than 650 EV autorickshaws currently running in the city.
Officials added that a small CNG autorickshaw costs at least ₹2.65 lakh, the bigger one costs about ₹3.2 lakh and EV autorickshaws cost around ₹1.5 lakh to ₹1.75 lakh each.
