Come April 1, diesel autos to be seized

Neeraj Bagga

Amritsar, March 17

To curb environmental pollution in the city, diesel auto-rickshaws found plying will be impounded from April 1.

This was announced at a meeting held with the team of ‘Rahi Project’ under the chairmanship of Joint Municipal Commissioner Hardeep Singh as part of the Amritsar Smart City Project here on Wednesday.

The ‘Rahi Project’ aims to encourage the use of electric autos in place of old diesel autos to make the city pollution-free. For this, help of the local administration will be sought and a meeting with senior officials of the district administration and the Municipal Corporation as well as representatives of the Auto-Rickshaw Unions will be held here on March 16. All stakeholders would be informed in advance.

To switch over from old diesel autos to e-autos, one gets a cash subsidy of Rs 1.40 lakh under the Rahi Project.

Apart from this, a woman from the family of a beneficiary under the scheme will be provided training in various courses under the Skill Development Scheme free of cost, while it costs thousands of rupees to do this course in the market. The benefit of the scheme can be availed by making cash payment or with easy instalment of bank loan.

The Joint Municipal Commissioner appealed to the old diesel auto drivers of the city to take full advantage of this scheme of the government and earn their income, and the women of the house should take advantage of the free courses and financially support their families.

Law Officer Amritpal Singh, Secretary Vishal Wadhawan, Superintendent Ashish Kumar, SHO Rachpal Singh and Raman of Smart City were among those present at the meeting.