Lucknow: Reacting to the decision to ban vehicles older than 15 years in the capital starting from April, Lok Dal’s National President Sunil Singh criticized the government’s policy, stating that the primary contributors to pollution are illegal industries, high-rise buildings, hotels, commercial activities, and brick kilns, not old vehicles.
Sunil Singh remarked that before banning 15-year-old private vehicles, the government should first take action against its own aging public transport fleet. “Government-run roadways buses have been operating for nearly 30 years, and several old government cars have been running on the roads for decades. Why are these not being taken off the streets first?” he questioned.
He further alleged that middle-class families spend their entire lives paying for their vehicles, and now, due to the government’s flawed policies, they are being forced to discard them. “With rising costs, middle-class citizens are struggling to buy new vehicles, yet the government is imposing such rules just to burden them with additional taxes and expenses. In contrast, in the United States, cars older than 50 years still operate without restrictions,” he added.
Lok Dal emphasized that pollution is not caused by vehicles but by the government’s industrial policies, which fail to regulate illegal industries effectively. The party urged the government to focus on shutting down unauthorized industrial operations instead of targeting private vehicle owners. “The government should refrain from implementing such policies solely for tax benefits in collaboration with automobile companies and property dealers,” Singh asserted.
Lok Dal has demanded that the government first control pollution from government buses, official cars, and industrial chimneys before enforcing regulations on private vehicles.
