India’s Supreme Court recently announced that some pretty radical measures were taken against pollution by banning new diesel auto sales in Delhi, and also doubling a “green-tax” imposed on trucks coming into the city.
Advertisement
The court had also slammed vehicle manufacturers which had knocked at its doors against the National Green Tribunal order banning registration of diesel cars in the capital.
It has ordered a temporary ban on the sale of large diesel vehicles and stopped trucks more than 10 years old from entering the city. People will now buy two small vehicles of a smaller engine capacity which will not only lead to an increase in the number of vehicles on Delhi’s roads but also increase pollution.
The move has received the support from environmentalists, who are pushing for the order to be extended beyond Delhi to other cities that are experiencing high levels of air pollution as well.
“We also have to consider the loss of jobs that this will result (in) at the dealerships, at the vendors producing diesel engines”, said a spokesperson from the German car-maker.
“The issue of diesel vehicles can be successfully tackled if registration of all diesel vehicles is banned by all neighbouring states too in addition to Delhi, otherwise, the problem will not be resolved as diesel vehicles get registered by these other state agencies”, the government told the SC, according to a statement issued by it.
Delhi’s air routinely worsens in the winter as the poor start lighting fires to stay warm and as cooler air and clouds trap pollutants.
The courts are pushing the authorities to act over New Delhi’s toxic air, ranked as the worst in the world in a World Health Organisation survey previous year of over 1,600 cities. More than 1,400 new cars are added every day to the 8.5 million vehicles on Delhi’s roads.
Shares in one of India’s largest diesel carmakers, Mahindra & Mahindra, tumbled 4% on the Mumbai exchange following the ban.
Jain is the nodal minister to implement the government’s action plan on air pollution reduction.
Mahindra Group chairman Anand Mahindra tweeted: “So, even if we believe the decision on diesel vehicles isn’t optimal, we’ll honour it and develop vehicles that comply with their stipulations”.
Advertisement
Passing a detailed order, a bench headed by Chief Justice of India T S Thakur said, “It is noteworthy that diesel vehicles of 2000 cc and above and SUVs are generally used by more affluent sections of our society and because of the higher engine capacity are more prone to cause higher levels of pollution”.
