[Urbanstudy] De-register diesel vehicles in Delhi that are over 10 years old: Green tribunal

[Vinay Baindur]

http://www.hindustantimes.com/delhi/deregister-diesel-vehicles-over-10-years-old-in-delhi-says-ngt/story-GpJIPFi4WfS7rPuOEEbOmJ.html

De-register diesel vehicles in Delhi that are over 10 years old: Green
tribunal

   - Ritam Halder, Hindustan Times, New Delhi |
   - Updated: Jul 18, 2016 16:21 IST

National Green Tribunal asked Delhi transport authorities to start
de-registering all diesel vehicles that are more than 10 years old. (HT
File Pho


The National Green Tribunal (NGT) asked Delhi transport authorities on
Monday to immediately revoke the registration of diesel vehicles more than
10 years old following complaints that a lack of enforcement of judicial
orders was hurting the Capital’s fight against pollution.

Last April, the NGT banned all diesel vehicles older than 10 years. In
2014, the green court said all – diesel and petrol -- vehicles more than 15
years old won’t be permitted to run on city roads.

But despite the orders, older cars continued to ply on Delhi’s roads with
the city government saying only the regional transport office (RTO) had the
authority to ban old vehicles.

That implementation glitch was resolved on Monday with the NGT asking the
RTO to issue a public notice after cancelling the registration of older
vehicles and supply a list of such vehicles to the traffic police.

“We hereby direct RTO, Delhi to deregister all diesel vehicles which are
more than 10 years old,” a bench headed by NGT chairperson justice
Swatanter Kumar said.

This is the latest step in a raft of judicial measures to improve the
city’s air that is among the worst in the world. Earlier in the year, the
Supreme Court banned the registration of large diesel vehicles and ordered
all diesel taxis to convert to CNG. The SC has indicated it is open to
revisiting its order on the ban.

Older cars are more harmful for the environment as they have primitive
pollution-control systems installed and emit more harmful gases than their
newer variants. Vehicular exhaust comprises a big chunk of the air
pollution that chokes Delhi.

The tribunal’s order came after the Delhi Police said it made repeated
attempts to stop older vehicles from plying on city roads. “But they have
hardly met any success,” the bench noted.

The traffic police said repeated challans and fine on offending older
vehicles hadn’t fetched any result.

“It is also stated that vehicles are released by the magistrates after
imposing fine under the Motor Vehicles Act and the vehicles surface again
on the roads,” the bench noted.

The NGT also directed the ministry of heavy industries to file an
affidavit, giving the status of electric and hybrid vehicles in India and
also mention the benefits the government was considering for those who wish
to dispose of old vehicles.

The green court also ordered the ministry to write a letter to the chief
secretaries of all the states within one week in this regard.

Last week, the *NGT asked the Delhi government
<http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-news/green-tribunal-asks-delhi-govt-to-clear-stand-on-banning-old-vehicles/story-9XtHav2iTKRxenHMz1kEyI.html>
*to
submit an action-taken report on the ban orders and give data on the number
of cars impounded. In reply, the Delhi transport department said it had
impounded around 3,000 cars in the past year but had released them later.

In reply, the Delhi transport department said it had impounded around 3,000
cars in the past year but had released them later.

It said that according to the Motor Vehicles Act, only the RTO had the
authority to de-register old vehicles.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mail.mail.sarai.net/pipermail/urbanstudygroup_mail.sarai.net/attachments/20160718/b580a164/attachment.html>