NEW DELHI: In a potential respite for vehicle owners, the Delhi government has appealed to the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) to halt the immediate enforcement of the ban on fuel for old vehicles and their confiscation. The ban, which came into effect on July 1st, prohibits fuel stations from dispensing petrol to vehicles over 15 years old and diesel vehicles over 10 years old.
Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa stated that the Delhi government has written a letter to the CAQM, emphasizing that such a policy should only be implemented in Delhi when a similar framework is concurrently adopted across the entire National Capital Region (NCR). Sirsa highlighted that a Delhi-only implementation could lead to vehicle owners seeking fuel in neighboring states, potentially creating an illicit cross-border fuel market and undermining the ban’s effectiveness.
Furthermore, the Delhi government has raised concerns about the technological readiness for enforcing this ban. Sirsa pointed out that the Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) system, crucial for identifying end-of-life vehicles at fuel stations, is not yet seamlessly integrated across the NCR and faces operational challenges within Delhi itself. These issues include faulty cameras, sensor malfunctions, and the inability to detect vehicles without High-Security Registration Plates (HSRPs).
“Vehicles should be banned according to pollution level and not their age,” Minister Sirsa asserted, indicating the Delhi government’s preference for a more nuanced approach to tackling vehicular pollution. He confirmed that the government is actively working on developing a more robust, pollution-based mechanism for vehicle regulation. While acknowledging the importance of curbing air pollution, Sirsa stressed that the current policy, in its fragmented implementation, would not be effective and would cause undue hardship to citizens. “It cannot be implemented right now,” he concluded, signaling a temporary deferment of the stringent measures.
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