The Odisha government will scrap a whopping 20,39,500 unfit vehicles, mostly more than 15 years old, to check environmental pollution as part of the vehicle scrappage policy.
“The State government has decided to ban the old vehicles having no fitness from March 15, 2023. Among those vehicles, 12,99,351 are motorcycles,” informed State Transport Minister Tukuni Sahu in Odisha Assembly on Thursday, while answering an unstarred question of BJP MLA Kusum Tete.
As per Sahu, 80,20,200 vehicles plying on the road in the State currently have fitness. As per the Odisha Government Scrapping Policy 2022, the State government has already started the process to ban 15-years-old vehicles having no fitness.
However, in the first phase 15-year-old vehicles, under the ownership of the government, will be scrapped. Gradually, individual vehicles not having permissible fitness will be scrapped.
“The Union government has asked the States to implement the scrapping policy to maintain the environmental balance. However, a lot needs to be changed in the policy to have its effective implementation,” said road safety worker Prakash Mohapatra.
“If an old vehicle has good fitness and it's running without creating pollution, it should not be scrapped. Government should consider public perception before taking any major decision,” said Mohapatra.
Earlier, the policy had triggered a lot of concerns among vehicle owners in the State. Several vehicle owners had expressed their disappointment over the amount of financial incentive announced by the State government.