Ban on petrol BS-III, diesel BS-IV vehicles to continue in Delhi

Delhi’s transport department on Thursday reviewed the ongoing ban on BS-III petrol and BS-IV diesel vehicles and said the curbs will remain in place for a few more days, with another review meeting likely to be held soon

Delhi’s transport department on Thursday reviewed the ongoing ban on BS-III petrol and BS-IV diesel vehicles and said the curbs will remain in place for a few more days, with another review meeting likely to be held soon. Officials said the situation was being monitored closely in consultation with the environment department in order to ensure the Capital’s air quality did not deteriorate further.

Gurugram, Nov 10 (ANI): A vehicular traffic is seen on Delhi-Gurugram Expressway, in Gurugram on Thursday. (ANI Photo) (Yogendra Kumar)

“A meeting was held to review the implementation of the ban and the prevailing Air Quality Index (AQI) along with the forecasts ahead. We decided to continue the ban for a few more days and review once again. The environment department is being consulted and teams are coordinating with them to look at air quality forecasts and the idea is to ensure lifting too many curbs does not once again lead to an impact on air quality and the environment,” a senior official of the transport department, who was part of the meeting, said.

On Monday, following directions from the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) in National Capital Region (NCR) and Adjoining Areas, the state government lifted all measures under Stage 4 of the Graded Action Response Plan (Grap). This included lifting the ban on entry of trucks into Delhi and the ban on linear construction projects such as highways, roads and flyovers, and the reopening of primary schools from Wednesday in the wake of the improving air quality. Delhi environment minister Gopal Rai, however, said the state government chose to continue the restrictions on the use of vehicles that conform only to older emission norms as part of Grap’s Stage 3, which was still in effect. According to Grap, states have the option to enforce such a ban.

In its Monday order, the transport department had said the ban will be in place till November 13, unless Grap was revised before that.

“As per the directions provided under Stage 3 of revised Grap, there will be a restriction to ply BS- III petrol and BS- IV diesel light motor vehicles (four-wheelers) in the jurisdiction of NCT of Delhi. The above directions will remain enforced till November 13 or downward revision in Grap stage, whichever is earlier. The restrictions will continue beyond November 13, if CAQM (Centre for Air Quality Management) orders Grap-3 and above restrictions,” the Monday order said.

Owners of BS-III petrol and BS-IV diesel vehicles will be fined ₹20,000 under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, for flouting the ban, the government has said.

At present, the ban impacts around 0.3 million BS-IV diesel four-wheelers, and around 0.2 million petrol BS-III vehicles in Delhi.

Cab unions and transport associations, meanwhile, have written to the Delhi government, asking for the ban to be lifted as soon as possible. Sanjay Samrat, who heads Delhi Taxi and transporters association said that the ban on the BS- III petrol and BS- IV diesel cabs had adversely impacted the livelihoods of thousands of taxi drivers while depriving people of availing the cab services.

“We have submitted memorandums to Delhi government and carried out a protest but no one is listening to us. While the air quality has improved significantly, we are still being made to suffer. It is beyond logic that trucks which have euro-2 euro-3 engines are being allowed to enter the city but euro-4 light vehicles which have pollution under control (PUC) certificates are barred from plying on city roads,” he added.

The association claimed that families of around 25,000 cab drivers are affected. “If compensation is being provided to construction sector workers there should be provision for providing compensation to us as well. Why are we being made to pay the fee for registration and PUC certification when vehicles can’t be used,” Samrat said.

Baljeet Singh from Delhi Cantt, another member of the taxi union, said that they receive maximum bookings for Innova SUV cabs, most of which are banned right now. “We had agreed to so many cab bookings for the wedding season which is currently underway. We are unable to meet these demands and this is leading to trust issues with customers. We can’t take out these vehicles as the booking amounts can never compensate for a hefty fine. No one wants to take the risk.”