Dumping of old vehicles a disaster or an opportunity to earn money?
Arvind Mohan October 15,2024
If all three governments of Delhi, that is, the central government, the state government and the third government of the lord, get together to work in the same direction on any issue, then there can be a debate on whether it should be called a triple engine government or not, but if all three are active on the issue of solving a big problem, then one should be happy in a normal way.
This is happening in the name of preventing pollution before the beginning of the season in Delhi. This happens every year and even after knowing the damage to health and the waste of a lot of money, it can be said that there has been a slight difference in some cases. Burning the straw or stubble left in the paddy field has reduced the amount and density of the smoke spreading there. And efforts have been made to take many more steps. This cannot be said for all the steps, but counting the smoke coming out of the uncontrollable increase in the number of vehicles as harmful is one such step which is considered to be the cause of many diseases including cancer.
But along with this, it has also happened that those who look for opportunities in disaster have also come. The problem is that it is not just a few people engaged in earning money, the government itself seems to be engaged in serving them. And instead of catching or punishing the wrongdoers, it is giving permission to punish its citizens, collect money and play with their health. The government seems to be working on the responsibility of increasing the sale of vehicles of those who are not making vehicles that meet the standards to stop pollution. And while doing this, its treasury is also filling up. And the citizens whose pockets are being cut or who have to bear the brunt of pollution are having to bear the burden of buying them again because the government has allowed public transport to be destroyed.
The number of registered vehicles in Delhi alone has decreased by 35.4 percent in 2021-22. In 2020-21, there were 1.2 crore registered vehicles in Delhi which came down to 79.2 lakh in 2021-22. The Delhi government had cancelled the registration of 48,77,646 vehicles and this ‘success’ was achieved by large-scale seizure of old vehicles. But all these vehicles were in use by someone or the other, were sustaining their lives, were their pride. It is another matter that we did not hear a sound.
And now the government has again decided to intensify the seizure of vehicles declared junk, that is, ten-year-old diesel vehicles and fifteen-year-old petrol vehicles. There are 60 lakh such vehicles in Delhi and their registration has been cancelled. Their parking in public places is also illegal, driving them is a crime. And the head of the Delhi government, Atishi Singh, had no objection in carrying forward the order of the Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena here. Saxena sahab is doing this work with a missionary spirit.
An organization called Commission for Air Quality Management is also present with its report and suggestions in the name of increasing pollution before winter. But no one needs to tell whether their enmity is with pollution or with old vehicles or whether everyone’s aim is to sell new vehicles.
Neither was there a need to check the pollution nor was there any option of sending such vehicles to rural areas or less polluted areas or cheap export considered. Straight to the gallows. Among the vehicles whose registration has been cancelled, there are many which were given licenses for a longer period by these governments and from which road tax for a longer period has already been collected. We hear that some people had gone to court against this order but there is no news from anywhere about what happened to their case.
On the other hand, everywhere old vehicles are being seized. The policemen are not just given instructions, they are probably also being given some bonus. The Commission for Air Quality Management has complained to the Supreme Court that there are 5928675 such vehicles in Delhi but only a few thousand vehicles have been seized. Lat Saheb Saxena ji is busy. So just wait and watch how many vehicles are sacrificed in this season of smog and pollution. Obviously, the reason behind all this is the talk of scrapping about 80 lakh vehicles including private vehicles and commercial vehicles in the 2020-21 budget by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. Even then, no voice was raised from anywhere.
