The Andaman and Nicobar Administration is working on a draft as per the norms of National Green Tribunal (NGT), under which vehicles older than 20 years and those which are causing pollution will be scrapped.
Talking to a section of media in Port Blair, director of transport Navlendra Kumar Singh acknowledged the fact that old vehicles are causing pollution in Andamans. He said that the chief secretary of Andaman and Nicobar administration has been communicated about this issue of old vehicles damaging the transport ecosystem and the environment.
“The chief secretary has directed that a few directions of the National Green Tribunal be taken into consideration and a draft be prepared, under which vehicles older than 20 years should be scrapped. The draft will be presented infront of competent authority and only after approval of competent authority final decision will be taken in this regard,” he said.
The roads of Andaman are now filled with vehicles. Slowly, but surely, the amount of vehicles on the roads of Andaman are increasing at an alarming rate especially in the capital city of Port Blair.
Today, the situation has worsened to a level that it has become impossible to drive a four wheeler in the streets of the Port Blair city.
The public face dangers from old vehicles, specifically from the ones driven by various departments and also Transporters. Presently, it can be seen that some departments in Andaman use vehicles as old as 25 to 30 years which pose a direct threat to the general public using the road for commute. These vehicles are also bad for the environment.
People of Andaman and Nicobar have been demanding for a scrap policy since last many years, under which, old vehicles should be scrapped and should not be allowed to operate on the roads.
