The Supreme court on Wednesday imposed a ban on registration of diesel passenger vehicles of engine capacity of 2000cc or above in Delhi till 31 March.
Advertisement
Leading environmentalist Sunita Narain, who was in the court, said judges also ordered city-based taxis to move from diesel to CNG (compressed natural gas) by the end of March and banned the burning of garbage.
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.
The Environment Compensation Charge (ECC) on commercial vehicles carrying goods into Delhi has been doubled to Rs 1,400 for light commercial vehicles and Rs 2,600 for larger trucks.
The bench also comprising justices A K Sikri and R Banumathi made it clear that commercial vehicles registered prior to 2005 will not be allowed to enter Delhi.
The court said that all those engaged in construction activity would observe the Central Pollution Control Board norms by putting curtains and other devices at construction sites.
Delhi would be the among the world’s first cities to introduce such strict measures after Lebanon banned diesel vehicles in 2001. If this was not enough to curb the automotive fleet of the Capital, National Green Tribunal (NGT) further added to their despair by stopping registrations of vehicles with diesel engines from December 11, 2015, to January 6, 2016. Recently, the government of Delhi has proposed the odd-even auto numbers to be allowed on the alternate days which is still known only by the Government of Delhi.
Currently, Mahindra offers a 2.0-litre and above diesel engine in four models – The Scorpio, Bolero, Xylo, and the XUV5OO, which will be banned from being sold in Delhi.
“Why don’t you people take credit of cleaning Delhi air?”
Delhi is considered to have some of the most polluted air in the world, as measured by levels of tiny particles that can find their way deep in the lungs and that cause lasting health problems.
Advertisement
The green court’s order has already drawn criticism from automakers, with the country’s biggest vehicle manufacturers’ group saying it could derail the industry.
