All 15-yr-old govt vehicles to be scrapped: Deputy CM

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Shimla, January 13

All government vehicles in Himachal, which are 15 years old or more, will be scrapped and replaced by e-taxis, permits for which are being given to the youth, said Deputy Chief Minister Mukesh Agnihotri, who also holds the charge of the Transport Department, here today.

E-challaning from March 31

• From October 1, vehicles in Himachal will be passed in an automated mode and if a vehicle fails the test twice, it will be sent for scrapping
• Bids invited from people interested in setting up six scrapping centres till January 31
• The Transport Department will start e-challaning vehicles from March 31
• Seven e-vehicle charging stations have been set up along the Chandigarh-Keylong highway while charging facilities will be created at 17 petrol stations by next month

Agnihotri, while addressing mediapersons here, said that to begin with, old government vehicles would be scrapped first. “All 15-year-old government vehicles have been declared illegal and removed from the portal of the Transport Department,” he added.

He said, “From October 1, vehicles in Himachal will be passed on an automated mode and if a vehicle fails the test twice, it will be sent for scrapping.” He added that bids had been invited from people interested in setting up six scrapping centres till January 31. At present, the Metal Scrapping Corporation of India scraps vehicles.

Agnihotri said that the Transport Department would start e-challaning vehicles from March 31. “The Transport Department has 12 barriers and from June this year, there will be surveillance through an Intelligent Traffic Management System of all rule violations,” he added.

He said, “The main reason for road accidents in a majority of cases is human error. As such, the Transport Department will launch a campaign in four phases from January 15 to educate people about road safety.” He added that as compared to 1,032 fatalities in road accidents in 2022, there were 881 deaths (a 13 per cent decline) in 2023. The Transport Department would also provide Rs 5,000 to anyone who helps an accident victim reach hospital.

Agnihotri said, “The Transport Department is targeting a revenue of Rs 1,000 crore and we have increased our revenue from Rs 500 crore to Rs 800 crore within one year. Also, Rs 11 crore has been generated through the sale of 3,511 fancy VIP numbers.”

He said, “There are 22,43,524 vehicles in Himachal (19,25,593 private and 3,17,931 commercial). At present, there are 2,811 electric vehicles and we are keen to see the entire state switch over to e-vehicles.”

Agnihotri said that seven e-vehicle charging stations had been set up along the Chandigarh-Keylong highway while charging facilities would be created at 17 petrol stations by next month. The government had identified 55 sites for setting up of e-vehicle charging stations, he added.