No fuel for end-of-life vehicles from April 1: Delhi govt

ELVs include petrol vehicles older than 15 years and diesel vehicles older than 10 years. According to transport department estimates, there are around 6 million ELVs in the city

End-of-life vehicles (ELVs) will be denied fuel at refill stations across the Capital from April 1, Delhi environment minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said on Saturday, detailing a slew of measures to be adopted over the next few months to curb air pollution in the Capital.

Environment minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa in the Delhi Assembly. (PTI)

To be sure, ELVs include petrol vehicles older than 15 years and diesel vehicles older than 10 years. According to transport department estimates, there are around 6 million ELVs in the city, 66% of which are two-wheelers and 34% are four-wheelers.

“We are ensuring that all fuel stations in Delhi have CCTV cameras that will determine the age of the vehicle based on the year of registration and the vehicle will not be given fuel, and will be penalised. So far, cameras have already been installed at 367 locations and another 40-50 are remaining. The entire installation and software connection will be done by March 31,” Sirsa told HT.

He said that he is also writing to the petroleum ministry to issue directions to all fuel stations in Delhi to ensure that the directives are followed. The environment minister said that the government will also increase efforts towards promoting the use of electric vehicles and ensure that more charging and swapping stations are set up at the earliest.

“I have asked the transport department to get in touch with landowning agencies and ensure land for more public charging stations. I was informed that just about 10% of the targeted charging stations have been set up so far,” Sirsa said.

He said that according to the Delhi Electric Vehicles (EV) Policy, 13,000 public and 20,000 private and semi-public charging points were to be set up by 2025. So far, 3,100 charging stations with 4,793 charging points have been set, apart from 318 battery swapping stations, he said.

Sirsa rapped the previous government, saying only 31.8% of funds under the National Clean Air Program (NCAP) were used. He said that funds were allocated for the procurement of 28 integrated multi-purpose vehicles with water sprinklers, jetting arrangement and anti-smog gun, 14 MRS machines, pothole repairing/road patching machines, end-to-end paving along roads and greening of traffic corridors, but the previous government did not utilise them.

Sirsa said that all hotels, big office complexes, high-rise buildings, Delhi airport and larger construction sites will be asked to immediately install anti-smog guns, adding that the government will be working on the “polluters’ pay” principle to ensure that all the larger establishments take efforts to control pollution.

“Most of these larger establishments have more fuel consumption, chimneys etc. We want to ensure that the those who are generating pollution should try to curb it locally rather than arbitrary measures for the entire city. Once MCD and other agencies have a list of other such structures, we will introduce more steps to control pollution,” Sirsa said.

The environment minister also touched on cloud-seeding, saying necessary arrangements will be made to ensure the same to create artificial rain as and when pollution levels increase to “severe”. While the previous government had proposed cloud seeding, there was opposition, but the minister vouched for a change in stance.

Sirsa said, “Research on cloud-seeding is inconclusive. We will be roping in IITs and other expert agencies to take their opinion. Meanwhile, we will ensure that we apply for and receive all permissions well in advance. If the process is feasible and not hazardous to the environment, we will ensure that we do it in case of an emergency.”

Following a meeting with department heads on Saturday morning, Sirsa said that varied timelines were given by departments to ensure that various measures are adopted over the next three months. He said that the Delhi government will also be roping in over 25,000 students from Delhi University and eco-club members from schools for plantation drives.

Experts, however, said artificial rain was not a practical solution to Delhi’s winter pollution problem, adding more research was required. “Until we have sufficient data or research to show it works, this could be a waste of funds. The impact of silver iodide on the environment also needs to be studied first, before we even consider attempting this,” Mukesh Khare, an air pollution expert from IIT Delhi, said.