New Delhi: Transport department officials have prepared a proposal seeking to revive the drive to confiscate overaged vehicles parked in Delhi, which was halted recently, sources said.
Transport minister Kailash Gahlot had ordered to stop the drive to confiscate parked overaged vehicles. The drive against plying vehicles was, however, allowed.
Citing orders of NGT and other courts, the transport department has sought permission to enforcement teams to impound all such plying or deemed to be plying (parked in public place) vehicles. The proposal will be sent to higher authorities concerned after which a decision will be taken, sources said.
They added that the department, in the proposal, also pointed out that many authorities in the past made attempts to stop overaged diesel vehicles, but their efforts hardly yielded any success because they were limited to moving vehicles.
A few challans and fines of a smaller amount imposed under the Motor Vehicle Act have not led to any tangible impact either, sources said further.
On March 29, the department had launched a drive to lift vehicles that had surpassed their life – 15 years for petrol vehicles and 10 years for diesel ones – and send them for scrapping. The action was meant to push people to scrap their aged vehicles instead of abandoning them on the road. The department impounded more than 2,500 vehicles till May 2, after which the drive was stopped.
According to data accessed by TOI, of the 2,500-odd vehicles impounded since March 29, 2,290 were impounded in April alone. In contrast, when the department had focused on only moving vehicles, it impounded 700 vehicles from January 1 to March 28, averaging about 230 a month.
A senior official in the Delhi government said that impounding moving vehicles is a challenging task as people tend to take detours or halt and park their vehicles when they spot an enforcement team. At times, they rush and speed away and, unlike traffic police, the department has fewer resources to catch them, he said.
“Also, stationary vehicles are not just choking lanes and roads, slowing traffic, but many have even weeds grown inside, leading to water accumulation and mosquitoes spreading,” he added.
The transport ministry did not respond on the issue.
In a written order issued to the state transport commissioner, Gahlot had said that forcefully towing away a parked vehicle wasn’t permitted by law. “The department is within its right to take action against a vehicle that is plying, but forcefully towing away a vehicle that is parked is not allowed and needs to be discontinued,” the order said.
