NEW DELHI, April 29: The Delhi Transport Department has stopped registering new diesel taxis in the Capital from April 1.The secretary, transport department, Abhijeet Sarkar said, ``The ban is only on diesel taxis. Registration of petrol taxis and single fuel taxis which can be run on CNG or propane is still going on.'' According to Sarkar, the decision was taken under the Section 20 of the Air (Prevention of) Pollution Act.
``There are about 8,000 taxis in the city which are run on metres which are fixed on petrol tariffs. So by banning diesel taxis we are making sure that all fares are equal and the metering is right,'' Sarkar pointed out.
Delhi Transport Minister Rajendra Gupta added, ``The fare structure on which these diesel taxis were running was that of petrol. We still let them run for some more time. But with the pollution levels rising we found it important that there should be check on these vehicles. The choice is up to them now, but the ban is in effect.''
The countdown for the phasing out of Bluelines has begun. The last date for the bus operators to convert to the Government's km-scheme is May 31. The Delhi Government had specified that the letter of intent for conversion should be submitted by April 30.
``But we have given them another 10 days, till May 10 to give their letters of intent,'' he said. ``With this much time we will make sure that there are sufficient number of buses on road from June 1. Because by May 10 we will know exactly how many Bluelines we will have under km-scheme and how many we will have to take from other operators.''
Meanwhile, the Delhi Government has submitted the draft Act of Delhi Unified Metropolitan Transport Authority to be presented in the Delhi Assembly.According to the draft, the authority will be headed by a chairperson who shall be the Lieutenant-Governor of Delhi and the vice-chairperson will be the Delhi Transport Minister. The objective of the Authority will be to acquire land for building or other purposes and to provide transport and develop transport facilities.
The Authority will be funded by either Delhi Government or Central Government by money that comes in from of grants, loans and advances.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
