In a breakthrough ruling, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has issued a ban on diesel vehicles in six cities in Kerala. However, we would like to add that the ban only affects vehicles that are over 10 years old. The NGT has also barred the state government from registering new diesel vehicles with engine capacity of 2000cc and above
As per the ban, 10-year old plus diesel vehicles falling under the light and heavy vehicle categories will not be allowed to run in cities including Kochi, Thrissur, Kozhikode, Kannur, Thiruvananthapuram and Kollam.
These vehicles will be taken off the roads within a month’s time, post which owners of any vehicle found violating the order will be liable to pay Rs 5,000 as environmental compensation to the pollution control board. Kerala’s transportation services have a large fleet of buses, most of which are fairly old.
According to a few reports, the ban would affect as much as 4,000 privately buses. Meanwhile, the state transport corporation has around 2,000 diesel-powered buses which are more than 10 years old. Things aren’t looking too good for diesel vehicles in the Southern state as the proposed ban against registering new diesel vehicles with engine capacity of 2000cc and above will have a significant impact on sales of large SUVs and utility vehicles.
