Govt to slap entry fee on trucks,tax on 2nd cars

It’s taken many years,but the Delhi Government seems to have finally worked out a congestion charge for the Capital,the first in India. The plan is to tax second cars owned by familes and charge a high congestion fee on trucks that choose to enter Delhi once the East-West Corridor becomes operational.

The East-West Corridor,the longest highway to be built in the country,will skirt Delhi,making commercial vehicles avoid the city altogether. “We expect the East-West Corridor to be operational by this December. After this,we will levy a congestion charge on trucks which will enter Delhi despite the East-West Corridor. This will be at a much higher rate than what it would cost the truck to take the 135-km corridor around Delhi,” Chief Sectretary Rakesh Mehta told Newsline. Inter-state buses and trucks pollute the city air without having to switch to Compressed Natural Gas (CNG),mandatory for city-based commercial vehicles.

Another problem area identified is the burgeoning number of private cars. “A RITES survey predicts that from 33 lakh cars in Delhi now,there will be 80 lakh cars by 2021. We have to plan a way to regulate this and are working on taxing a second car,” a senior official said.

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This congestion charge would be the first of its kind in the country. The Delhi government thinks drastic measures are needed as its CNG conversion scheme is losing its sheen due to the large number of private cars running on conventional fuel.

HOW
* High fee on trucks entering Delhi
* Tax on second car

WHY
* Non-CNG commercial vehicles entering city,high number of private cars main polluters

WHEN
* December 2010 after East-West Corridor becomes operational