Concerns about pollution caused due to vehicle emissions have been on the rise since more than a decade. Environmentalists are stressing regularly about using eco-friendly vehicles or taking measures such as sharing cars or using local transport like buses for the transition to reduce pollution.
Even then new vehicles are being bought and registered every day leading to a rise in the amount of pollution. According to reports, every day around 1750 vehicles is registered in the IT Hub of India, Bengaluru.
Incidentally, more than 80 lakh vehicles are already running on the road. It certainly is a cause of concern because, with the rise in the number of vehicles, the air and sound pollution in the city is bound to go up.
Registration Cannot Be Restricted; But E-Vehicles Are Being Promoted
The Transport Commissioner of Bengaluru, V.P. Ikkeri said that in the previous financial year that completed in March 2018, the number of vehicles registered in Bengaluru was 74.06 lakh.
According to him, it is not possible to restrict the registration of new vehicles. However, keeping the factor of pollution in mind, they are trying to promote registration of e-vehicles.
Across the Karnataka State, the overall number of registered vehicles rose from 1.93 crores in the previous financial year to 2.10 crores this year. The Transport Department also has to reach the revenue target that is fixed for it for a financial year by the State Government.
BMTC & KSRTC Fail To Fulfill Revenue Target
This year the department managed to fulfill the revenue target generating a total of 6,168.58 crores against the target of 6,167.61 crores. The Transport Department has managed to fulfill the target only due to an increase in the registration of new vehicles.
However, the State-run road transport corporations such as BMTC and KSRTC could not fulfill the target. The department could only collect revenue of 359.48 crores against the target of 488.8 crores. The department has collected 160 crores through imposed penalties for various offenses.
High-Security Registration Plates (HSRP) Implementation Compulsory
Mr. Ikkeri said that the Central Government has said in its notification that the implementation of the rules related to high-security registration plates (HSRP) for vehicles manufactured from April 1 onwards will be compulsory.
According to the officials, these rules are not applicable to the vehicles that are already registered.
Mr. Ikkeri stated, “It is a discretionary power of the State government to introduce the rule to already registered vehicles, but as of now the matter is before a court of law.” He further added that after March 2020 there will be a complete ban on vehicles having two-stroke engines. Prior to that, the owners of such vehicles will have to shift to four-stroke engines.
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