In a move to help clean polluted air in Karaj, capital of Alborz Province, old and polluting cars have been banned effective as of Friday.
A senior officer with Karaj Traffic Police, General Hamdollah Rahmati, said as per rules implemented on Friday, old cars without the mandatory annual technical inspection tests should not be on the roads in Karaj, 40km west of Tehran, IRNA reported.
“Motorists found in breach are being fined.” He appealed to drivers to get their vehicles checked at the special inspection centers set up in the city and be sure that the vehicles are roadworthy. There are eight technical inspection centers in Karaj city that has expanded beyond imagination over the past quarter century.
Many cities in Iran are struggling with worsening air pollution blamed largely on exhaust fumes from old cars and heavy vehicles seen running up and down on highways and the crowded streets with little regard for rules and regulations announced by the Law Enforcement Forces and municipalities.
Before introduction of the new regulations in Karaj, rarely did Traffic Police impound the old and rickety cars or smoke-belching diesel-powered heavy vehicles.
According to official data, since the beginning of the current fiscal that ends in March, traffic police fined 13,000 polluting cars that more than generously contributed to the toxic air quality in the city.
Appealing to drivers to get their vehicles checked, Rahmati said policy and decision makers in Karaj are trying to follow in Tehran’s footsteps in the unending campaign against impudent drivers and car owners.
APR Impact
Launched by Tehran Municipality in late November 2018, the Air Pollution Reduction (APR) scheme now underway, has forced a large number of drivers to have their cars technically checked and repaired if necessary.
As per the APR scheme, old cars have been banned in the sprawling city. Violators are fined in the latest attempt at improving air quality.
All four and two-wheelers in the metropolis must go though the auto inspections and acquire technical conformity papers that show the vehicle meets the required automotive and emission standards.
Environmentalists say traffic and emission rules in Karaj need to be enforced more stringently to set the record straight and send an unambiguous message to all car owners unwilling to play by the rules.
With 1.6 million people living in the city, on average 2.5 million trips are made by vehicles in Karaj every day.
