BENGALURU: In the wake of the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways mandate that all vehicles older than 15 years and above have to be scrapped, at least 10,000 vehicles of various government departments in the state will go under the crusher.
However, these vehicles cannot be scrapped immediately in one go as agencies like the fire and emergency department, water board and police will have to first get their replacement.
This is also the case with white board government vehicles, wherein tenders will have to be called for vehicles in a phased manner as it will have a huge financial burden to the state exchequer.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, Mallikarjuna C, Additional Commissioner to Transport Commissioner (Enforcement South), said, “There are over 10,000 government vehicles in the state that are eligible for scrapping. As these vehicles are working for crucial departments like fire services, police department, Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board, scrapping them in one go will affect regular services. So, we have to do the scrapping of government vehicles in phases.”
He further added that even for other government vehicles like the ones that are used by government officials, scrapping all of them in one go might affect government services.
“If the government places an order to buy new vehicles, private companies cannot supply all of them immediately.”
Keeping these factors in mind, the state transport department will appeal to the ministry to allow operation of government vehicles in the state that have crossed 15 years till they are scrapped in a phased manner. The transport department has permitted a private company to set up the first Registered Vehicle Scrapping Facility (RVSF) at Vijayapura in Devanahalli taluk and people have been requested to make use of the centre to scrap their old vehicles on voluntary basis.