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Starting March 31, 2025, vehicles older than 15 years in Delhi and parts of NCR will be ‘denied fuel at petrol pumps’ as part of a stricter crackdown on air pollution. This decision, announced by the new Delhi Environment Minister ‘Manjinder Singh Sirsa,’ aims to reinforce existing restrictions that prohibit ‘petrol vehicles older than 15 years and diesel vehicles older than 10 years’ from operating in the city.
How Will It Be Implemented?
The Delhi government plans to ‘use AI-enabled cameras at fuel stations’ to detect vehicles that violate the rule. These cameras are already being used to enforce ‘Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificate requirements.’
– Fuel stations without these devices will be ‘equipped with AI cameras’ soon to ensure smooth enforcement.
– A special team will be deployed to ‘identify and monitor old vehicles’ still operating in the city.
Delhi’s End-of-Life Vehicle Problem
Delhi has over 1 lakh end-of-life vehicles. While these vehicles are already banned from Delhi roads, they can still be ‘sold in other states’ after obtaining a No-Objection Certificate (NOC). However, environmentalists question whether simply relocating old vehicles solves the pollution problem or just shifts it elsewhere.
Government’s Push for Electric Public Transport
To further tackle vehicular pollution, the Delhi government has also announced a plan to ‘replace nearly 90% of its CNG-driven public transport buses with electric buses by December 2025’. By 2026, the fleet is expected to include 11,000 buses, of which 8,000 will be electric. As part of this push, the government will procure 3,680 e-buses by September 2024 to encourage public transport use.
Criticism from Experts and Activists
While the move is positioned as an anti-pollution measure, environmentalists and activists have raised concerns about its scientific basis and practicality.
– Bhavreen Kandhari, an environmentalist, argues that policies should be based on data and science rather than arbitrary decisions. She questions why ‘15 is considered the threshold beyond which a vehicle becomes unfit.
– B.S. Vohra, President of East Delhi RWAs Joint Front, points out that 43 lakh vehicles in Delhi are over 15 years old, and 38 lakh vehicles exceed the permitted age limit.. He asks whether Delhi’s public transport system can handle the demand once these vehicles are effectively removed from the roads.
– Kandhari also argues that a well-maintained 15-year-old car with a valid PUC certificate could be less polluting than a poorly maintained newer car. She suggests that emission levels and maintenance should be ‘prioritized over age-based bans’..
Others welcome the move
Shambhavi Shukla, project manager, Clean Air, Centre for Science and Environment, welcomed the step. Shukla reportedly pointed out that studies in Delhi have shown that vehicular emissions contribute significantly to air pollution. A 2018 TERI-ARAI study found that 40% of PM2.5 pollution came from the transport sector, while a recent CSE study using IITM data estimated that vehicular emissions account for around 50% of Delhi’s air pollution.
Is This an Effective Solution?
The Delhi government’s intent to curb pollution is clear, but critics argue that a more holistic approach—focusing on emission standards, vehicle maintenance, and expanding public transport infrastructure—would be more effective than an outright ban on older vehicles.
Globally, various countries are implementing measures to reduce vehicular emissions, primarily by setting future bans on the sale of new fossil fuel-powered vehicles. For example, Norway aims to end the sale of such cars by 2025, while the European Union plans to phase out new gas car sales by 2035.
However, the specific policy of denying fuel to older vehicles, as recently announced in Delhi, is relatively uncommon worldwide. This approach directly restricts fuel access to vehicles exceeding a certain age limit to mitigate pollution. While other regions focus on future bans of new fossil fuel vehicles, Delhi’s policy uniquely targets existing older vehicles by cutting off their fuel supply.
The real question remains: Will this policy bring down pollution, or will it only inconvenience lakhs of commuters of Delhi without providing viable alternatives?
References:
ANI on X
Bhavreen Kandhari on X
BS Vohra on X
Bhavreen Kandhari on X
https://www.teriin.org/sites/default/files/2018-08/Report_SA_AQM-Delhi-NCR_0.pdf
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cg52543v6rmo.amp
Banner Image : Photo by Shantum Singh: https://www.pexels.com/photo/bustling-street-with-elevated-metro-in-delhi-29548259/
