Words by Yash Sunil
Although the ban on diesel vehicles with engines over 2000cc has been lifted, residents of Delhi/NCR are in for a setback. Under the National Green Tribunal (NGT) act of 2010,The Delhi Transport Department has started a mandatory deregistration of any diesel vehicles (personal or commercial) that are aged over 15 years.
The court passed the order on July 20 and the road department has begun implementing the ban and will focus on all old diesel vehicles. Currently in Delhi/NCR region, there are over 2 lakh diesel cars plying on the road and with the help of the police, the Delhi government is under the process of impounding all the vehicles and scrapping them. The police have successfully impounded around 50 cars already and are in the process of screening the registration lists and contacting the owners and impounding their vehicles. The NGT also began the process of identifying spaces to dump old vehicles and directed the chief secretary of Delhi and secretaries of the states of Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan to hold a meeting to come up with sites for parking old vehicles that were banned from plying in the NCR.
The uncertainty when it comes to diesel engine powered cars has led to a higher demand for petrol cars. The transport industry is due to suffer vastly from this decision by the green tribunal. Already the demonetisation move has led to several confusions overnight.