Ghaziabad: Registration of 79,000 old vehicles cancelled for not adhering to NGT norms

Ghaziabad: The regional transport department has cancelled the registration of about 79,000 vehicles in Ghaziabad, in compliance with the directions of the National

Ghaziabad: The regional transport department has cancelled the registration of about 79,000 vehicles in Ghaziabad, in compliance with the directions of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in 2015 which had banned plying of petrol vehicles older than 15 years and diesel vehicles older than 10 years in the national capital region (NCR), officials said Sunday.

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The department, in September last year, had suspended registrations of at least 81,773 vehicles in compliance with NGT’s directions. These included 75,293 petrol vehicles and 6,480 diesel vehicles.

“After suspension of the registrations, we had given the owners of such vehicles six months’ time to take no objection certificates (NOCs) and get their vehicles registered out of the NCR region. They were also given an option to register such vehicles in 34 districts identified in Uttar Pradesh,” said Vishwajeet Pratap Singh, additional regional transport officer.

“Initially, it was a public notice which we issued after suspension. After the end of the six month period, we have cancelled registrations of about 79,000 such vehicles which include petrol vehicles older than 15 years and diesel vehicles older than 10 years. The rest of the vehicle owners had applied and obtained the NOCs, hence their registrations were not cancelled,” he added.

The officer, while adding that such vehicles, if caught plying on roads, will be seized, said that the department has further identified about 25,000 more vehicles which have since come under the ambit of the NGT order, and that the process for the cancellation of their registrations will be initiated soon.

At present, there are 9.84 lakh vehicles registered in Ghaziabad district, which also include diesel vehicles older than 10 years and petrol vehicles older than 15 years.

“The decision will certainly help in compliance of the tribunal’s orders and will also help in reducing air pollution levels, which generally run high during the winter season. Apart from cancellation of registration, the department should initiate regular drives to seize such vehicles if found plying on roads. Likewise, special drives should also be initiated to check if owners of valid vehicles have proper pollution under control (PUC) certificates,” said Akash Vashishtha, a city-based environmentalist.

Residents meanwhile said that for past several years, more and more residents are using their own vehicles.

“The situation has come as there is no proper government-run city-bus service or intra-city transport mode which people can use on a daily basis. As a result, people prefer to use their own vehicles and this is why the number of registered vehicles has risen. However, this has also given rise to air pollution due to emission from vehicles,” said Colonel (retired) TP Tyagi, president of the apartment owners’ federation.