New Delhi: In a country facing the problem of increasing pollution, the old fleet of buses of transport corporations is also a big problem. Looking at the situation of many states struggling with the lack of public transport resources, the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways wants that the buses of corporations which are currently fit as per the standards of operation should have the option of installing EV kits.

For this, vehicle manufacturing companies have been asked to work on technology. To deal with the problem of ever-increasing air pollution, in the National Capital Region (NCR), following the court's order, there is a ban on the operation of 10-year-old diesel and 15-year-old petrol vehicles, but this has not been done in other states. In some states, vehicles of different periods have been banned, but there is not much seriousness about implementation.

15 year old vehicle will not be registered

However, the central government is concerned not only about the environment but also about human life, so there is a focus on scrapping policy to phase out old vehicles. Currently, Bharat Stage-6 i.e. BS-6 category vehicles are declared fit as per pollution standards. BS-5 vehicles are also running, but vehicles older than that are a cause of concern. However, rules have been made for government vehicles that registration of 15-year-old diesel vehicles will not be renewed.

Number of buses approximately 2.8 lakh

Despite this, there is also a problem that the bus fleet in the states is mostly old and there is no possibility of scrapping all the buses. According to a recent study, the number of buses being operated by transport corporations is about 2.8 lakh, while the requirement as per the population is about 30 lakh buses. In such a situation, the idea is to work on the option of keeping old fit buses in operation by making them compliant with environmental standards.

'The environment will be protected'

Anurag Jain, Secretary, Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, says that the common people themselves should scrap the unfit vehicles keeping in mind the environment and human life, but the government is considering how it can take this forward.

He said that discussions have been held with automobile companies in this regard. They have been asked to work on such a technology that the diesel engines of physically fit old buses of transport corporations can be removed and electric vehicle kits can be installed in their place. If this technology is successful, the environment will be protected and the states will also be able to avoid the burden of excessive scrapping of bus fleets.