Delhi traders, transport groups protest move to ban heavy vehicles in Oct

Opposing the Delhi government's decision to ban entry of medium and heavy goods vehicles in the city, traders and transport organisations said it would "grossly and adversely affect" businesses in the national capital.

The decision to ban the entry of medium and heavy goods vehicles to the national capital from October 1 to February 28 was aimed at curbing vehicular pollution.

However, vehicles carrying raw vegetables, fruit, grains, milk and essential commodities will be allowed to enter the city, they said.

According to an official, vehicular pollution leads to deterioration in the air quality during the winter months.

President of all India Motor and Goods Transport Rajender Kapoor demanded the rollback of the ban and asked the government to consider some other way to resolve the pollution problem.

"Transportation quantity (of various essential commodities) is in hundreds of tons, which can be done only by heavy motor vehicles, not by light motor vehicles. Heavy machinery and building materials are also brought from various states and that cannot be done by light motor vehicles," he said,

The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has convened a meeting of leading business associations of Delhi on June 29 to decide the future course of action over the issue.

Condemning the Arvind Kejriwal government's decision, CAIT Secretary General Praveen Khandelwal said the move will ruin the trade in Delhi to a larger extent.

He claimed the traders in Delhi are "anguished and will oppose the arbitrary and obnoxious order". The decision under question reflects the "anti-trade attitude" of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Khandelwal said.

"It is noteworthy that Delhi is the largest distribution centre in the country and the revenue of the Delhi Government is largely dependent on business activities.

"If this order is implemented, then there will be a big hurdle goods movement," he said.