The National Green Tribunal (NGT) banned diesel vehicles more than ten years of age in Delhi-NCR and abutting urban communities. All vehicles entering Delhi-NCR are being checked at outskirts for pollution, weight and age from April 8, 2015 (it then suspended the order for two weeks).
The Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, in its plea, has said that most countries adopt fitness tests, including emission checks, of vehicle as a criterion for curbing pollution and not the age of the vehicle. Also added saying, “that it is important to consider a vehicle which is around two years old may have been driven for larger distance than an old vehicle which is more than 10 years old, thereby causing reduction in mechanical parameters. A well-maintained vehicle with higher designed mechanical parameters older than 10 years may emit much less harmful gases than one with lower design parameters and inferior maintenance”.
The ministry in its plea also said that it does not want undue hardship to ordinary people and that if the tribunal’s order was implemented, “the ultimate sufferers would be public who may not be to replace their vehicles with newer ones and their life and livelihood will get affected”.
It said that several government departments involved in essential public services such as hospitals and municipal corporations have vehicles that are more than 10-15 years old. It also said that private transport carriage services also had vehicles that are more than 10 years old but in good condition.
A Tata Motors official says the ban could generate an ‘anti-diesel’ sentiment in buyers’ minds. “Another fear is that NGOs and activists in other cities might follow suit to get older diesel vehicles banned there.” Analysts offer a different perspective. “When older vehicles go off the road, there will be fresh demand for new vehicles,” says Rakesh Batra, Partner and National Leader, Automotive Sector, Ernst & Young, but adds that demand for diesel vehicles could be hit.
The NGT had, on November 26, requested all vehicles over 15 years of age, off Delhi-NCR roads to clean up the capital’s air, discovered the world’s most lethal by the WHO. The NGT has now looked for from Delhi-NCR, Haryana and UP, and ordered removal of diesel vehicles more than 10 years of age and petrol ones more than 15 years old in Delhi-NCR from earlier this-month. These two bans apply to both private and business vehicles.
With the pollution in the city on the rise, there’s a need to control the same too.
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Source: Live Mint
