India, choking on pollution, restricts vehicle use in New Delhi

The court halted the registration of diesel cars and sport utility vehicles with an engine capacity of 2,000 cubic centimeters or more until March 31 in the region of the capital.

It also put a restriction on the passage of commercial vehicles through Delhi if that was not their intended destination and emphasised that such vehicles would be prohibited from entering the city through the entry points of NH-8 and NH-1.

It directed all taxis operating in Delhi and neighbouring provinces to convert to the less polluting compressed natural gas, or CNG, by March 31st.

The court today also raised by 100 percent the green cess now being levied on commercial vehicles entering Delhi. Successive Delhi governments have faced scathing criticism for failing to come up with a strategy to tackle the smog. Delhi government recently came up with an “innovative” idea of odd-even policy for banning cars which has already created ripples in the automobile industry.

India has 13 of the world’s 20 most polluted cities, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported a year ago.

Diesel vehicles Environmentalists such as Ms Narain have identified diesel vehicles as Delhi’s worst polluters.

Chief Justice T.S. Thakur ordered the ban on registration of new diesel vehicles with engine capacity of two litres or more – typical of SUVs, jeeps and other luxury cars.

While preventing the Delhi Government and local authorities from burning solid waste to prevent harm caused to environment, it set a deadline of April 1, 2016, for the Arvind Kejriwal Government to purchase vacuum cleaning vehicles for cleaning dust from roads and pavements.

Auto sales are soaring in India, with 1,400 new vehicles taking to Delhi’s streets every day. By barring the luxury diesel segment, the Supreme Court has established a critical principle that diesel taxed low for poor farmers and freight can not by misutilised by the rich auto owners for luxury consumption and add to pollution. “You could enumerate the steps to be taken and why you are asking the court to do it”, it said. The Bench said, “The State Governments and UTs concerned shall ensure that vehicles bearing registration numbers of the year 2005 or earlier do not enter Delhi”. But unlike Beijing, which also suffers from hazardous haze levels, the city does not issue public health warnings.