Chandigarh, May 29
LPG autos are finally on city roads. After completing the screening process, the State Transport Authority (STA) has granted permission to around 800 autos.
Thirteen yellow-green autos are already plying and other applicants are in the process of procuring the vehicles. The transport authority has given six months to the applicants to buy the autos.
Initially, the Chandigarh administration had decided to allow 500 autos. Later the number was fixed at 800.
The STA has written to the director of food and supplies to ensure that there were enough LPG outlets in the city.
Regarding the fares, sources in the administration indicated that the fare for LPG-run autos would be the same as for the other autos.
The rates were approved in 2001. The administration has decided to refit the 1,800 diesel-run autos with LPG kits within the next six months.
To check pollution, the authority has stopped issuing permits to three-wheelers with conventional engines.
Apart from phasing out 15-year-old autos, the STA has written to the transport department of Punjab and Haryana to ensure that these autos are phased out.