India cracks down on “dirty” diesel cars

“A ban on registration of such vehicles will not therefore affect the common man or the average citizen in Delhi”, the court said.

In a radical step to curb alarming air pollution, Delhi Government has restricted plying of private vehicles bearing odd and even registration numbers to alternate days from January 1 in the national capital.

Supreme Court has banned sale of new diesel vehicles above 2,000 cc in Delhi till March 31, 2016.

Some of India’s best-selling vehicles, such as Mahindra & Mahindra’s Scorpio, Tata Motors’ Safari and Sumo, Toyota’s Innova, Mitsubishis’ Pajero and also luxury auto manufacturers including Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi will suffer the consequences of this ban.

Vehicles registered in the year 2005 or earlier shall not be allowed to enter Delhi.

Also, the court said all taxis operating in Delhi as well as in districts in the neighbouring states of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan would have to convert to natural gas by 31 March.

The city government has further informed that authorized pollution checking centres are spread all over Delhi and, at present, “388 centres for petrol/CNG-driven vehicles and 273 centres for diesel-driven vehicles are functioning all over Delhi”.

Justifying the doubling of pollution tax for toxic trucks entering Delhi from existing Rs 700 and Rs 1,300, the bench said “this measure shall, in our opinion, discourage any vehicle trying to enter Delhi on a false pretext of the goods loaded on it being Delhi bound”.

Over 23 per cent of the cars on Delhi roads run on diesel which produces much more carcinogenic nitrogen oxide than petrol cars.

As well as the large diesel sales ban, trucks aged 10 years or older have also been banned from entering the capital while any commercial vehicle not delivering to the New Delhi have also been banned from entering the city limits.

“Banning diesel vehicles (which is great) will bring down Delhi’s pollution by hardly 5 per cent, whereas if we are able control garbage and waste burning, and stop the age-old diesel gen-sets, then we may be able to reduce Delhi’s air pollution by almost 50 per cent”, says Partha Bosu India head of Clean Air Asia, a Manila-based environmental body. “In addition, from customer prospective they will think twice now buying diesel vehicles because of the uncertainty with regard to diesel regulation”, said Abdul Majeed of PriceWaterhouse.

The court however has ruled in favor of the AAP government.

Air pollution is responsible for more than 600,000 deaths each year across India, with Delhi topping that list.

The order has been passed on suggestions by senior advocate Harish Salve, who acts as amicus curiae in the PIL filed by environmentalist M C Mehta in 1985.