From July 1, the Delhi government will start one of its biggest campaigns to fight air pollution by acting against old vehicles on the roads. The plan was to ban 15-year-old CNG cars too, but for now, owners of such CNG vehicles have got relief. The focus will only be on 10-year-old diesel cars and 15-year-old petrol cars.

Delhi’s Transport Commissioner Niharika Rai said that teams will be sent to petrol pumps to make sure these old vehicles do not get fuel. But these teams will not be sent to CNG stations, so CNG vehicle owners do not need to worry at the moment.

The action comes after the Supreme Court ordered that rules banning old vehicles must be strictly followed this year to reduce pollution. For this, Automatic Number Plate Reading (ANPR) cameras have been installed at petrol pumps across Delhi. These cameras will scan number plates, and if a car is older than the allowed age, the system will catch it. The transport department teams at the pumps will then stop fuel supply, seize the car, and send it for scrapping.

Petrol pump owners fear that stopping fuel could lead to fights and problems at the pumps. To handle this, Delhi Traffic Police will deploy extra police officers. More police will be sent to petrol pumps considered sensitive, while fewer officers will be posted at less crowded pumps. Joint Commissioner of Delhi Traffic Police, Ajay Chaudhary, said they have already identified petrol pumps that may need 24-hour police security and those where there is a higher chance of old vehicles coming in.

For now, this strict enforcement will only be enforced in Delhi. The special ANPR cameras have not yet been installed in the neighbouring NCR cities of Noida, Ghaziabad, Gurugram, Faridabad and Sonipat, but officials state their intent to install the cameras there by November 1 of this year. Until then, old vehicles from Delhi can be expected to try to get fuel by crossing into the neighboring cities.

While there are no such cameras on the roads in Delhi or at its borders, these old vehicles can only be caught at petrol pumps. Officials said work has already been undertaken to get cameras on the borders of Delhi as well. In addition, those cameras will also be able to catch the old trucks and buses that do not comply with any pollution standards.

Source: India Today