Bengal govt starts scrapping old vehicles to replace them with EVs

Kolkata: About 22,000 government vehicles that are 15-years-old will be scrapped by the Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee government, of which, about 700 are police vehicles. The process of identifying those ‘old’ government vehicles and replacing them with new Electric Vehicles has already begun, said a state government source on Saturday.

According to a senior government official, every department has been asked to replace these old vehicles by providing the vehicle number and registration number.

From small four-wheelers to sedans, all types of vehicles are on this list.

The matter of old vehicles being in use came to light after the pilot police car of Trinamool Congress MLA Saokat Molla had a brake failure and collided with a motorcyclist last week, resulting in his death.

It was found that the pilot car was more than 15 years old. After that incident, the government took the decision to scrap such old vehicles.

“Some departments have already started buying new vehicles. However, this time the state government has emphasised on buying Electric Vehicles. According to the Transport Department, the list of vehicles to be scrapped includes 698 vehicles belonging to the police, 481 vehicles belonging to the Transport Department, and 710 vehicles belonging to various state-owned organisations,” said the senior government official.

There are about 19,793 vehicles belonging to other government departments including Public Works, Panchayat, Public Health and Technical. In total, about 22,000 vehicles will be scrapped.

Recently, the transport department has started seizing unfit vehicles, be it private or government. Therefore, along with cancelling private commercial vehicles, the process of cancelling government vehicles has also started. According to sources, many vehicles are also being rented.

Sources said, the cancelled cars have been kept in various government open spaces and depots. They will be scrapped step by step.

However, in case the 15-year period is extended by the Supreme Court the state government will take a call on whether these cars will be put on the road again.

According to an official of the West Bengal government, the process of cancelling these old cars has started in compliance with the court order as of now.

IANS