(HT)
The Union Budget 2021 has proposed a voluntary vehicle scrapping policy to phase out old and unfit vehicles. Finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman said the vehicle scrapping policy will encourage fuel efficiency, reduce vehicular pollution and oil import bills. Private vehicles that are over 20 years old and public vehicles that are over 15 years old could undergo fitness tests at automated fitness centres to check their eligibility for scrapping.
Sitharaman also proposed to provide ₹2,217 crore for 42 million plus cities for implementation of clean air programmes. In addition, under the Swachh Bharat campaign, there will be focus on complete faecal sludge management; wastewater treatment, source segregation of garbage; reduction of single use plastics; reduction in air pollution by effectively managing waste from construction and demolition activities; and bio-remediation of all legacy dump sites at the cost of over ₹1.41 crore for a period of five years for these projects.
