The Kozhikode district unit of the Bus Operators Association has decided to pull out of roads more than 2,000 private buses from June 6 in protest against the order of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) that more than 10 years old vehicles with 2,000-plus cc diesel engine be taken off the roads owing to the pollution they caused. The order is to be implemented within a month in six cities, including Kozhikode.
Federation president P. Moideen Kutty said on Friday that private buses were being operated as city services, peripheral services and also to nearby districts such as Malappuram, Wayanad and Kannur. And, 90 per cent of the total number of vehicles operated from Kozhikode fell under the category that the tribunal mentioned. The rest of the fleet too would join the strike to draw the attention of the Government to the predicament the public transport system found itself in, in the wake of the tribunal order.
Mr. Kutty said the tribunal’s concern over pollution was justified, but more time could have been given to the operators to find a way out.
Asked whether the government would intervene, when pollution had turned a grave issue, Mr. Kutty said the tribunal’s order actually put the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation also in a fix. “Most of their buses are older than ours,” he said.
Five more years sought
Mr. Kutty insisted that the government must appeal against the tribunal order and get another five years for the transport sector to phase out the vehicles. “We insist that every vehicle complete the 15-year period, for which permit is issued at the point of registration,” he said.
This time-frame was needed especially for those bus owners who had borrowed heavily for the one of two vehicles they owned. “Financially better-off owners did not wait for 15 years to sell their old buses and buy new ones. In fact, many change the engines even before completing 10 years, as engine wear-out is a major reason for pollution,” he said.
In a statement, association general secretary K. Radhakrishnan said there should be immense impetus to promoting public transportation in the State. Pollution could be brought down by reducing the number of vehicles on roads.
One bus instead of 50 cars should be the objective, he said, suggesting that almost every car on the road was being operated for only one passenger.
“Let every vehicle complete the 15-year period for which permit is issued at the point of registration”
