The war on pollution has come to a head with the National Green Tribunal (NGT) once again ordering diesel vehicles older than 10 years off the road, this time with immediate effect.
A bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar ordered RTOs in Delhi to issue a public notice in this regard and provide a list of such vehicles to Delhi Traffic Police for appropriate steps.
While naysayers are crying foul over the “overnight” ban, Monday’s order is simply a reiteration of the green court’s April 2015 order banning diesel vehicles that are more than 10 years old from plying in the Capital.
“This itself is indicative that old diesel vehicles contribute majorly to pollute the air quality and therefore they must be stopped from plying. It is an accepted fact in India and all over the world that emissions from diesel vehicles are more injurious to the environment than petrol or other sources of energy like CNG,” the bench said.
The tribunal passed the order after noting the submissions of Delhi Police, which said that it has made continuous attempts to stop vehicles that were more than 10 years old from plying on the roads, in pursuance of last year’s order.
“But they have hardly met any success,” the bench noted. “…vehicles are released by the magistrates after imposing fine under the Motor Vehicles Act and the vehicles surface again.”
Additional Solicitor General Pinky Anand and advocate Balendu Shekhar, appearing for the Ministry of Heavy Industries, said that the tribunal should not impose such a “harsh” order as it would adversely affect the automobile sector and the economy.
Anand said that an impression has been created that diesel fuel is more polluting, which is not a “reality” and that other fuels were also causing pollution.
“Private vehicle owners have already paid a 15-year tax. Asking them not to use the vehicles after 10 years is therefore completely unjustified and may lead to PILs for refund of Road Tax,” she said, adding that only vehicles more than 15 years old should be banned. Cars older than 15 years are already barred from Delhi following an NGT order issued in November 2014.
Enforcement needed Anumita Roychowdhury, Executive Director – Research and Advocacy and head of the air pollution and clean transportation programme, Centre for Science and Environment, said that the order, made with a view on controlling pollution, is important.
“Diesel emissions are very highly carcinogenic and we need to look at the impact in even small amounts. It is established that diesel cars release approximately 23 times more nitrous oxides than petrol cars and five-seven times more particulate matter. These figures are true even for new diesel cars.”
According to Delhi government statistics, there are almost 19 lakh cars registered in Delhi. However, it is expected that the impact may not be severe.
SP Singh, President of Indian Foundation of Transport Research and training, said that following last year’s order, people, whose vehicles were reaching the age-limit had already started selling their cars. He estimates that around 1.5-2 lakh cars would now come under the offending bracket. “The resale value of these cars will come down drastically,” he said.
Ban may spread While the courts have allowed diesel cars older than 10 years to be re-registered outside Delhi, in a few months some of these may also be barred in other parts of the country as well. The pan-India roll-out of BS IV emission norms, which are currently applicable in only 13 tier-I cities, is planned for April 1, 2017. Following this, no BS III cars will be re-registered.
With inputs from PTI