Overage vehicles will not be allowed to refuel in the Capital from March 31, Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said on Saturday.
It was one of the several measures Mr. Sirsa announced following a three-and-a-half-hour meeting with various stakeholders on curbing air pollution in the city. Other measures include replacing CNG buses with e-buses, mandating the installation of anti-smog guns on high-rises, and using cloud seeding technology to create artificial rain.
The National Green Tribunal has banned overage vehicles, defined as petrol vehicles older than 15 years and diesel vehicles over 10 years of age, in the National Capital Region.
Speaking to reporters, the Environment Minister said, “Instructions will be issued to fuel station owners to not provide fuel to overage vehicles. Around 80% of the fuel stations in Delhi are already equipped with gadgets to identify such vehicles. By March 31, this technology will be extended to all filling stations.”
The Environment Minister also said that arrangements will be made to prevent overage vehicles from other States from entering Delhi. On October 1, 2022, Gopal Rai, the Environment Minister in the previous Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government, had announced that filling stations would not sell fuel to motorists without valid Pollution Under Control certificates. However, the plan was never notified.
‘Wasted opportunity’
Mr. Sirsa lashed out at AAP for not taking measures to improve air quality. “Thousands of crores given by the Centre were not used by them,” he alleged, claiming that only 31.8% of the funds under the Union government’s National Clean Air Programme were used by the AAP government.
Terming vehicular emissions and dust as the major contributors to air pollution in the Capital, the Minister said, “We will make it mandatory for large hotels, office complexes, high-rise buildings and the IGI Airport to instal anti-smog guns and air quality monitoring devices to ensure that their premises are free of pollution.”
The government will also incentivise afforestation, he added. “Delhi University students will be encouraged to plant trees and take care of them for three years. We will provide them credits under the scheme,” said Mr. Sirsa.
