Now, the worry line for the city is that it has no means of taking these ancient and more often than not smoke-spewing vehicles off the choc-a-bloc roads.

The Motor Vehicles Act 1988 says vehicles over 15 years old have to be inspected by the Regional Transport Office (RTO) and if found road-worthy, their registration can be extended by five years. But the number of vehicles that have approached the city RTO for re-registration are only around 2,500 for the year 2008. This is because the RTO has placed the onus on people to come to them for re-registration.

RTO officers admit that tracking vehicles over 15 years old is tough. On the flip side, the RTO officials admit they also have no means of tracking vehicles that have been ‘retired’. The RTO has no teeth so far as scrapping (which is cancellation of registration of the vehicle) of ageing vehicles is concerned.

“We cannot take any decision on scrapping non-transport vehicles over 15 years old unless there is a government policy,” said Chandrakant Kharatmal, RTO, Pune.

Even the scrapping of transport vehicles has been slow. Unlike its BEST counterpart, the Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited does not have to scrap vehicles that are 15 years old or above.

Only last week, state transport minister Satish Patil said that a proposal to scrap maxi-cabs over 25 years of age was in the offing. While the Bhure Lal committee in 2006 laid down rules for auto-rickshaws that they be converted to LPG or scrapped, no such rules exist for private vehicles.

“Last year 1,449 two-wheelers and 1,099 cars over 15 years old were re-registered,” said Pradeep Shinde, Deputy RTO. However, as on December 2008, RTO records show that around 2,616 vehicles around 12-17 years old have been retrofitted with LPG kits.

“One cannot keep track of all the old vehicles. Many may have left the city, some may have come in. Some keep vehicles at home without using them. If we find vehicles over 15 years old that have not registered again or are not roadworthy, we can take action,” Shinde said.

Making things difficult for the RTO — facing a severe staff crunch — is also a lack of awareness about getting their vehicles re-registered. “I have a 14-year-old two-wheeler in good condition but I was not aware they had to be re-registered,” said a commuter.