Day 1 of fuel ban for ELVs goes off smoothly in Delhi

The move comes on a CAQM directive dated April 23, seeking to curb the operation of ELVs to curb pollution, in line with orders issued by the National Green Tribunal and the Supreme Court

NEW DELHI

On the day, enforcement agencies identified 98 ELVs and seized 80 of them. (Sanchit Khanna/HT Photo)

A game of cat-and-mouse enveloped Delhi’s fuel stations on Day 1 of the ban on fuel sales to end-of-life vehicles (ELVs), as bikers unaware of the ban tried to flee when the automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras red-flagged their vehicles and police chased after them to impound their vehicles.

The move comes on a CAQM directive dated April 23, seeking to curb the operation of ELVs to curb pollution, in line with orders issued by the National Green Tribunal and the Supreme Court.

Staffers at an Indian Oil fuel station in Lajpat Nagar, near the PGDAV College, said three ELVs visited their station by Tuesday afternoon, but two of them fled when their vehicles were flagged.

Ravi Anand, an attendant at the station, said, “One ELV petrol vehicle was towed away for scrapping when it was identified. Two more fled when they were recognised, and they realised their vehicles would be towed away. Police are patrolling the area, and cameras have been installed at the petrol pump.”

Another staffer, who refused to be named, said, “We have also been conducting surprise checks on cars and bikes that look very old. When a biker was caught, he tried to give excuses and also tried to leave, but the policemen had already surrounded him. They took his details, gave him a challan and let him go.”

On the day, enforcement agencies identified 98 ELVs and seized 80 of them. HT, in spot checks at multiple locations, found joint teams of the transport department, traffic police and civic bodies deployed at the stations.

Traffic personnel at an Indian Oil fuel station in Amar Colony said they had been deployed at the site since 6am, and by late afternoon, they seized two ELVs—a motorbike and a scooter.

“We did not have to check each vehicle manually. The ANPR camera scans all the vehicles that come here, records their registration plate number and processes it. The data is run through the VAHAN database, and we get updates in real time via the public address speaker. This was the case in both seizures,” said Anwar Khan, the manager of the petrol pump.

Staffers across fuel stations HT visited said they were given “strict” directions to look for old vehicles that may be ELVs and question vehicle owners. “Even we didn’t know what was happening till today. Now, police have told us that action will be taken against us if we let 10-15 year old vehicles go,” a staffer at the fuel station said.

At an Indian Oil fuel station in Kalkaji, opposite the Nehru Place bus terminal, staff said one offender was caught, as of afternoon.

A staffer at the station, on the condition of anonymity, said, “On Monday night, we were told to paste posters informing everyone that petrol vehicles older than 15 years and diesel vehicles older than 10 years will not be allowed to fill fuel.”

At an Indian Oil Petrol Pump in west Delhi’s Rajouri Garden, a traffic police officer, along with a constable from the local police station, checked vehicles manually as well, but did not find any ELV till 3pm. “I am using the e-beat book app while conducting random checks, but we didn’t have any ELV. It’s important to note that many such vehicles are run on CNG, but we can’t impound them,” the constable said.

Nischal Singhania, the president of Delhi Petrol Dealers Association, said that fuel pumps located on or close to the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh and Delhi-Haryana borders witnessed around a 10-15% drop in sales.

“The ban created fear among most of the vehicle owners who usually refilled at the border fuel stations in Delhi, and many of them preferred to refill their vehicles from fuel stations located in neighbouring cities, such as Gurugram, Noida, Ghaziabad, and Faridabad. The ban will be more effective if the government enforces it across Delhi and NCR,” Singhania said.