Jalandhar (Parteek Singh): The number of diesel autos running in the city is increasing day by day, though the Punjab and Haryana high court (HC) had banned the issuance of permits for them in July 2009 to control air pollution. The other two cities where the autos have been banned are Ludhiana and Amritsar.
After the court order, the city-based autorickshaw union had filed a writ petition in the high court and acquired a stay on the order. The court had then amened its order and ruled that the permits issued for diesel autos before March 15, 2010, could be renewed, but no new permits would be issued till further order.
Going by this order, the number of diesel autos should have decreased or remained to the minimum as no permits were supposed to be issued after March 15, 2010 in the city, but the case is opposite as their number has increased over the years.
According to an estimate, there are around 15,000 diesel autos running in the city, out of which only 5,000 are authorised to ply as the rest have permits from nearby cities such as Kartarpur, Phillaur, Nakodar etc where there is no ban on them.
“If we want to continue our work within the city limits, we have to get a permit of any nearby town. There is an understanding between the administration and autorickshaw unions,” said an auto owner on the condition of anonymity.
Whenever drives against air pollution by these autos have been launched, the authorities have faced strong protests by autorickshaw unions.
“We are taking action against unauthorised diesel autos. However, the police face difficulty in identifying an auto by its appearance only whether it has a city permit or a permit from some other town as the number plates they use are PB-08 only,” said assistant commissioner of police-traffic (ACP-traffic) Varinder Preet Singh.
“We are also helpless in allowing them to ply for the convenience of the people as there are no other means of transport in the city as the supply of compressed natural gas (CNG) or liquid petroleum gas (LPG) is not sufficient,” he added.
“The diesel autowalas are asked to opt for CNG or LPG, but the lack of availability of both fuels in the city is a major hassle,” said autorickshaw union president Pritam Singh.
There is only one CNG filling station located on the Pathankot bypass, where its supply is also erratic.
“The ban was imposed by the high court, transport authorities and the police are required to keep a check on them. We are also planning to run a joint drive against vehicular pollution soon under the ‘Tandrust Punjab mission,” said environmental engineer Arun Kakkar