An Ambassador taxi on a Shillong road. Picture by Eastern Projections

Shillong, Jan. 5: The sight of smoke-belching, rickety Ambassador taxis ambling through the congested streets of Shillong will soon be a thing of the past.

If everything goes according to plan, the old Ambassadors will be phased out from next month and taking their place will be swanky Maruti and Indica taxis.

Of the 4,000 taxis plying on the streets of Shillong, nearly 2,000 are old Ambassadors.

East Khasi Hills deputy commissioner Donald Wallang said the administration had decided not to issue taxi permits for cars that are more than four years old. “In any case, seldom anybody buys an Ambassador now. The new road permit system will bring more Maruti and Indica taxis to Shillong.”

The proposed set of rules stipulates that no taxi should be older than a 95 model. If permit-holders so desire, they can upgrade their vehicles, but Wallang believes most would prefer to sell their old vehicles and buy newer models.

The deputy commissioner will convene a meeting of the transport authorities soon to implement the new road permit scheme.

“Most of the Ambassadors are of vintage class and frequently break down in the middle of the road. This causes traffic jams and worsens Shillong’s pollution level. Ambassadors have become a public nuisance,” Wallang said.

The traffic police department seems to be the happiest over the administration’s decision.

Additional superintendent of police (traffic) Claudia Lyngwah said the presence of old cars had made traffic management in Shillong a more difficult task than it should be.

“We need everybody’s help and co-operation. Unless the district administration’s decision is implemented, old Ambassador owners will continue to hold road permits and make traffic management more difficult,” she said.

Lyngwah has already compelled some taxi owners to state in writing that they will upgade their Ambassadors or take them off the road. “If the old vehicles are phased out, it makes perfect sense to issue new permits,” she said.

If the vintage models bow out by next month, Shillong can expect to become a pollution-free zone soon. The deputy commissioner, who is also the chairman of the Regional Transport Authority, said: “Shillong should not be a dumping ground for old vehicles. The decision to phase out old taxis is not a populist one, but there is no denying that it has been taken for the good of the public.”