NEW DELHI: Union road transport secretary
Anurag Jain
on Thursday said govt is not in favour of increasing the maximum
speed limit
on highways from the current 100 kmph to 120 kmph on
National Highways
until there is significant improvement in discipline among road users, including drivers. On the need to focus more on reducing road accidents and
vehicular pollution
, he also suggested that there is a need to either convert the vehicles manufactured before 2000 (pre-BS) or to phase them out.
Responding to a question on whether there is any plan to increase the speed limit, Jain said, “We will think of increasing the speed limit the day there is improvement in
road discipline
in our country. I have suggested to our minister that we should not increase the speed limit.” He said over four lakh road crashes and 1.5 lakh deaths are a matter of huge concern.
Though Union road transport minister Nitian Gadkari had been talking about increasing the speed limit, last week he also spoke about large-scale violation of traffic rules while speaking at the Global Safety conference. “Large scale violations of traffic rules and lane driving are coming in the way of increasing the maximum speed limit even on access-controlled highways. There is little fear of or respect for law,” he had said.
Speaking about the need to find ways out to deal with old polluting vehicles, which were produced before the
Bharat Stage emission norms
kicked in, Jain said they are seeking opinion from all stakeholders, including vehicle manufacturers.
“Certain categories of vehicles (commercial) manufactured before 2000 cause 15 times more pollution. Do you feel such vehicles should run at a time when the country is facing a huge problem of pollution?” he asked.
