Making way for the new

Good attempt

Pollution and traffic snarls are a motorist’s worst nightmare. Add to that malfunctioning and old vehicles and it is the perfect formula for chaos.

The proposed ban on vehicles older than 15 years has elicited diverse opinions from motorists in the city. Most Bengalureans agree that it would be a wise move, considering the number of vehicles in the city is increasing by the day.

Arvind Kumar, a regional manager with a real-estate firm, says traffic jams are caused by old vehicles which include trucks, autorickshaws and vans. “These are seen mostly in the Central Business District and areas like Johnson Market,” he says. Such vehicles also tend to break down more, he adds. Agreeing to this, Riyasree Tripathi, a marketing professional who rides a two-wheeler , says that she has experienced difficulty driving  around such vehicles as they emit black smoke.

“This can make breathing difficult and affect visibility. These vehicles are not meant for traffic-bound roads as they do not have much pickup too,” she adds. She feels that such a  move should have been implemented long back.

Business owners like Karthikeyan Rai, a retailer from Russell Market, observe that this move will be a blow to small business dealers.

“We have been using old autorickshaws and mini vans to transport goods for years. This will force us to invest into newer vehicles, despite our vehicles having all the required certificates,” he says.

Sharath S Namburi, a businessman who collects classic cars and two-wheelers,  says that this is a confusing move for some.

“People who collect old cars make sure that these vehicles have the ‘Fitness Certificate’ issued from the RTO.

Collectors who would like to take their cars out for a spin should be given a special
permit, so that they are not fined by the officials,” he says, adding that it would be
unfair to people who have cars fit for the road.
The ecological advantages include the reduction in emission from these vehicles  which is almost 1.5 times more of a newer vehicle, points out a senior official (who did not want to be named) with the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board.

He states, “Vehicles with two-stroke engines emit more pollutants compared to four-stroke ones. In a diesel vehicle, the limit of smoke density is 65 hatriz units, but older vehicles emit around 90 to 100 units. In petrol vehicles, the parameters are the levels of carbon monoxide and hydrocarbon emitted. In older vehicles, the petrol burning efficiency is lesser which leads to more emission.”

But  traffic personnel feel that it won’t be of much help in the city’s current traffic situation. Manish Rungta, assistant chief traffic warden (Ulsoor) says that this move will stop commercial vehicles from entering roads like the Outer Ring Road, but won’t affect personal vehicles by a lot. “This will be a good move for environmental reasons though,” he concludes.