The Supreme Court on Wednesday modified its August order, which barred coercive action against the owners of diesel vehicles older than 10 years and of petrol vehicles older than 15 years in Delhi-National Capital Region, reported Live Law.
A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant, and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and Vipul Pancholi said that vehicles with Bharat Stage-III or lower emission standards can be subjected to enforcement action, including impounding, according to Bar and Bench.
In 2018, the Supreme Court banned diesel vehicles older than 10 years and petrol vehicles older than 15 years in Delhi as part of efforts to curb air pollution. The ban came into effect on July 1.
Under the directive, the end-of-life vehicles would not be allowed to refuel. To enforce the ban, automatic number plate recognition cameras were installed at nearly 350 petrol pumps across the national capital to detect such vehicles.
In an interim order on August 12, the Supreme Court said that no action should be taken against older vehicles, while hearing a petition by the Delhi government.
The Bharatiya Janata Party government had described the ban on older vehicles as “arbitrary” and contended that the 2018 order had caused practical hardships to a large number of people in Delhi.
It also submitted that there are now stricter pollution control measures in place, such as the enhanced coverage of the Pollution-Under-Control certificate system and implementation of Bharat Stage-VI standards.
The order on Wednesday came on an application by the Commission for Air Quality Management, which said that the blanket protection had made it difficult for state authorities to act against higher-polluting vehicles, reported Bar and Bench.
The commission told the court that of the nearly 2.3 crore vehicles on the roads of Delhi-NCR, about 37% run on BS-III or older regimes. They emit between 2.5 and 31 times more particulate matter compared to models compliant with BS-IV and above standards, it added.
Also read: Delhi’s failure to act against the biggest source of its air pollution – vehicles
Pollution-control plan a ‘total failure’: SC
The Supreme Court on Wednesday also told the Commission for Air Quality Management that the pollution control plans in place in Delhi and National Capital Region were a “total failure”, reported the Hindustan Times.
Stating that air pollution had become an “annual feature”, it directed the commission to formulate a comprehensive long-term plan to address the crisis, according to Bar and Bench.
The commission was directed to focus on the areas of urban mobility, cleaner industry and energy and stubble burning.
The bench asked the commission to plan modes and manners of incentivising farmers to stop stubble burning and use the residue of crops for other purposes.
Further, the commission was told to ensure that construction activities are regulated and the provision of alternative employment when construction work is halted due to pollution-control curbs.
The Supreme Court also called for increasing the green cover in Delhi.
The Commission for Air Quality Management manages the Graded Response Action Plan, a set of incremental anti-pollution measures that are triggered to prevent further worsening of air quality once it reaches a certain threshold in the Delhi-NCR region.
AQI in Delhi
This came as Delhi’s air quality remained in the “very poor” category on Thursday.
The national capital’s average Air Quality Index stood at 358 at 7.05 am, according to data from the Sameer application, which provides hourly updates published by the Central Pollution Control Board.
Four of the city’s 40 monitoring stations recorded AQI readings above 400, while 32 showed readings above 300.
Delhi’s air quality had worsened sharply in the past week. The city’s average AQI rose from 307 on December 11 to 349 on December 12 and 431 on December 13, before touching 461 on December 14.
An index value between 301 and 400 indicates “very poor” air. Between 401 and 450 indicates “severe” air pollution, while anything above the 450 threshold is termed “severe plus”.
An AQI in the “severe” and “severe plus” categories signifies hazardous pollution levels that can pose serious risks even to healthy individuals.
The deterioration in the air quality was attributed to unfavourable weather conditions, including very low wind speeds caused by a western disturbance.
Stage 4 restrictions of the Graded Response Action Plan have been imposed in Delhi and the National Capital Region.
The region has been recording air quality in the “poor” or worse categories since mid-October.
Air quality deteriorates sharply in the winter months in Delhi, which is often ranked the world’s most polluted capital. Stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana, vehicular pollution, along with the lighting of firecrackers during Diwali, falling temperatures, decreased wind speeds and emissions from industries and coal-fired plants contribute to the problem.
Also read: Why air quality numbers in Delhi vary widely
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