Delhi to ban entry of outside heavy vehicles from Oct-Feb next year; traders slam decision
New Delhi, Jun 23: In a bid to curb vehicular pollution, the Delhi government has decided to ban the entry of medium and heavy goods vehicles to the national capital from October to February, officials said on Thursday.
Vehicles carrying raw vegetables, fruit, grains, milk and such essential commodities will, however, be allowed, they said.
According to an official, entry of the vehicles will be banned from October 1 to February 28 next year. Vehicular pollution leads to deterioration of air quality during the winter months, he said.
The decision has been met with criticism from transporters and traders, who said it will lead to losses, and urged the government to think of alternative measures to curb pollution.
Diesel-run trucks transporting essential goods will be allowed, apart from CNG and electric trucks, officials said, adding that there will be no ban on private vehicles and the order is applicable only on commercial vehicles.
However, critics said that there are few CNG trucks, and those too small-sized, while large and medium vehicles that traverse long distances do not prefer CNG as it is not easily available.
"This decision of the Delhi government will kill the Delhi trade at a time when festival and wedding season in Delhi is always on high pace. The Delhi traders will strongly oppose this draconian order of the Delhi government," Praveen Khandelwal, Secretary General of the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT), said.
He said the confederation will seek the central government's intervention and also launch an agitation against the Delhi government.
"The CAIT is convening a meeting of trade leaders of Delhi next week to decide its course of action," he added.
Bhim Wadhwa, ex-president of the All India Motor Transport Congress, claimed bureaucrats frame policies without thinking about the general public or stakeholders.
Rajendra Kapoor of the Delhi Goods Transport Organisation concurred with Wadhwa and said Delhi's reputation as a retail hub will be badly hit due to the ban.
"Truckers and traders will find alternative markets for buying goods and sending them, with Delhi being shut for them. This will hurt Delhi's reputation as a retail hub
"The businesses of petrol pumps will be severely affected. This ban will hit the transporters in a much more severe way than the Covid pandemic," he said.
He urged Delhi Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot to reconsider the decision.
On June 15, the Delhi government had written to its neighbouring states, including Haryana and Uttar Pradesh, urging them to allow only BS VI-compliant buses to enter the national capital from October 1 in order to help control air pollution in the city.
The request was made to deal with the problem of vehicular pollution in the city, which officials here indicated, is contributed to in part by vehicles coming from Haryana.
The national capital witnesses high levels of air pollution in the winter months from October due to a multitude of factors, including stubble burning and vehicular traffic.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
