Centre’s upcoming vehicle scrapping policy will have little effect on Noida’s air quality
Officials say the new policy would not be of much use in reducing pollution in the district as the category in question is already a small fleet. According to traffic police estimates, about 4-5 lakh vehicles run on Noida roads every day
Noida: The Union government’s upcoming vehicle scrapping policy — that will allow companies to scrap commercial vehicles older than 20 years — will affect just 450 vehicles in Gautam Budh Nagar. Noida transport department has just about 450 commercial vehicles that were registered before 2000. Most vehicles that old are already discarded.

The Union government recently approved a new policy that will scrap all commercial vehicles over 20 years old. To start from April 1, 2020, it is an attempt towards phasing out older vehicles that are more polluting. (While the order will come into force on April 1, 2020, there will be only 467 registered before year 2000 that will be scrapped.) Studies estimate that India has about 700,000 commercial vehicles registered before 2000 that contribute to about 15-20% of the vehicular pollution.
In Gautam Budh Nagar, there are 467 commercial vehicles that are registered before 2000, of which, the largest number is that of light goods vehicles such as mini trucks. There are 301 light goods vehicles, 62 medium goods vehicles, 24 heavy goods vehicles and 21 three-wheelers used for carrying goods. Other categories with very few older vehicles include three wheelers carrying passengers, tractors, tow trucks, mini bus, jeep taxi and ambulance, among others.
Officials say the new policy would not be of much use in reducing pollution in the district as the category in question is already a small fleet. According to traffic police estimates, about 4-5 lakh vehicles run on Noida roads every day.
“Most commercial vehicles are constantly in use and do not have a working life of 20 years. Owners discard them before 20 years and these are scrapped. Most vehicles, specially the ones running on diesel, cannot get a valid fitness certificate too,” said AK Pandey, assistant Regional Transport Officer (ARTO-Admin).
He added that there are some categories of commercial vehicles that are already moved out of circulation by the department in 15 years, such as CNG-based vehicles.
Officials said that smaller commercial vehicles such as taxis, maxi cabs, auto-rickshaws and delivery vans have a lifespan of not more than 10 years now.
“This is because of better technology upgrades happening sooner and vehicle parts wearing off faster, adding to maintenance cost. People find it more cost-efficient to discard the older vehicles and get new ones,” added Pandey.
Transport experts also say that the number of older commercial vehicles, as well as their impact on pollution, may be over-estimated. Studies state that vehicular pollution already comprises a small fraction of air pollution and vehicle older than 20 years would be much smaller number.
According to transport experts, it would help more if the government worked towards more substantial initiatives aiming at reducing personal vehicle fleet and augmenting less polluting public transport.
BOX
Number of commercial vehicles registered before 2000-
Vehicle category Count
Ambulance 5
Delivery van 2
Earth moving equipment 2
Heavy goods vehicle 24
Jeep taxi 5
Light goods vehicle 301
Maxi cab 1
Medium goods vehicle 62
Mini bus 14
Motor cab/taxi 4
Tanker 3
Three wheeler (goods) 21
Three wheeler (passenger) 5
Tow truck 6
Tractor (commercial) 12
Total 467
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