Vehicle registration holiday: Will it work?

Vehicle registration holiday: Will it work?
Vijay Times

Bangalore: While the State Government views a month-long vehicle registration holiday as an effective solution to stem the rising pollution levels in the city, Transport Department officials and traffic experts are vouching for raising the vehicle tax and making vehicle maintenance cost higher.

Forests and Environment minister Gurupadappa Nagamarapalli on Wednesday announced that Government was contemplating introduction of 'Vehicle Registration Holiday' for a month to check environmental pollution in the city,

“Immediate action was necessary as the city was registering over 1,000 new vehicles a day,” he told reporters here.
However, transport officials have termed such contemplation as "mere dictatorial measures" -- that too with loopholes.
Several officials expressed that "Ours is a democratic system and imposing such rules is a violation of fundamental rights."

The registration holiday as envisaged by the minister would involve complete stoppage of vehicle registration in Traffic Engineers and Safety Trainers (TEST), said a freeze on vehicle registration is extremely difficult as it is against the liberty and freedom of the citizens.
"The Government has to bring a legislation and such legislation may not pass due to public protest," he said. Citing the example of failure in implementing the helmet rule, he said such rules cannot be forced and should be left to the public choice.

The government should take up some alternative measures to control the pollution level instead of working on such ideas, he added.
Experts suggested intensive awareness campaigns and strict enforcement for adherence to pollution norms. They acknowledged that the latest vehicles coming off the shelf had firm pollution checking systems in place, and which conformed to international norms.