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Time of India
04-07-2025
- Automotive
- Time of India
Pollution math doesn't add up, fuels debate
The debate among scientists and environment policy experts over what really drives vehicle pollution has heated up in Delhi after the Commission for Air Quality Management 's (CAQM) directive of denying fuel and impounding end-of-life vehicles from July 1 onwards. Petrol vehicles that are over 15 years old and diesel vehicles that are over 10 years old are in the direct line of fire of CAQM's Direction 89. The direction's aim is to reduce emissions, but environmentalists and automotive experts have questioned whether a vehicle's age should be the only parameter for such an action. The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), which has been part of several scientific studies on pollution in Delhi-NCR, said that it does not recommend phasing out vehicles based on age. Rather, improving fuel and emission standards was what it had advised. Experts at CSE, along with researchers at IIT-Delhi and Delhi Technological University (DTU), advocated for improving the pollution under control (PUC) regime to ensure that vehicles on the road are well-maintained. "In its decades-long campaign on the right to clean air, CSE has never recommended the phase-out of personal vehicles based on age. Instead, we have recommended the improvement of fuel and emission standards for vehicles - from BS-0 in the mid-1990s to BS-6 introduction in 2020," CSE said. It added that it recommended the use of technology such as remote sensing to monitor emissions and identifying polluters while advocating an improved and stringent PUC regime to ensure that on-road vehicles are better maintained. "We know that vehicles, including personal vehicles, contribute the bulk of toxic air emissions, and therefore, we have also recommended massive augmentation of public transport and mobility systems, and vehicle restraint measures like increased parking rates and parking management area plans. It is only in the case of commercial vehicles, like trucks, that CSE has researched and recommended targeted fleet renewal and scrappage, but this also with incentives for commercial vehicle owners to replace fleets," CSE said. Some other experts, however, pointed out that the age of the vehicle was a telling factor on the possibility of higher emissions. Deepty Jain, assistant professor at the Transportation Research and Injury Prevention Centre in IIT Delhi, said that the tail-pipe emission of a vehicle depends on the vehicle's age, make, model, kilometres driven, and fitness. "If the annual average kilometres driven is high, one can expect its average emissions per kilometre to be higher than newer vehicles," she said. She added that age becomes one of the benchmarks to omit the emitting vehicles. "The problem is that for vehicles, a baseline must be set. Obtaining a PUC certificate is not difficult, as also the fitness certificate. So how do I really discourage people from using older vehicles? I cannot do anything else but look at the age," Jain said. A 2018 TERI-ARAI study said that approximately 40% of PM2.5 was generated by the transport sector. A recent CSE study based on data from the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology said that around 50% of Delhi's air pollution was caused by vehicle emissions . Experts also pointed out that the existing PUC system was faulty and outdated. A study by DTU even proposed an air quality measure such as an exhaust emission index (EEI) to replace the current PUC system. This EEI would largely rely on the idle testing of carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons emission for petrol vehicles and smoke density for diesel vehicles. Dr Rajeev Kumar Mishra, associate professor of environmental engineering at DTU, said maintenance records could be identifiers. "Identifying vehicles for phasing out should be based on accumulated mileage, maintenance records and performance by emission norms, not just by age," he said. In 2024, three armoured vehicles used in the Prime Minister's security were denied registration extension by NGT on the grounds of pollution in Delhi-NCR. The Special Protection Group pointed out that the vehicles had only covered 6000, 9500, and 15,000km. However, the BS-III vehicles, then set to de-register in December 2024, were denied extension up to 2029. Green activist Bhavreen Kandhari called the no-fuel policy "troubling". The policy encourages people to scrap older cars and buy new ones, which would increase the total number of vehicles on the road. "Clean air won't come from newer vehicles. It will come with fewer vehicles. That means shifting the focus towards reducing private car dependency," she said.
Time of India
03-07-2025
- Automotive
- Time of India
EOL vehicle's age not just a number, it's a bigger debate
New Delhi: The debate among scientists and environment policy experts over what really drives vehicle pollution has heated up in Delhi after the Commission for Air Quality Management's (CAQM) directive of denying fuel and impounding end-of-life vehicles from July 1 onwards. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Petrol vehicles that are over 15 years old and diesel vehicles that are over 10 years old are in the direct line of fire of CAQM's Direction 89. The policy's aim is to reducing emissions, but environmentalists and automotive experts have questioned whether a vehicle's age should be the only parameter for such an action. The Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), which has been part of several scientific studies on pollution in Delhi-NCR, said that it does not recommend phasing out vehicles based on age. Rather, improving fuel and emission standards was what it seeks. Experts at CSE, along with researchers at IIT-Delhi and Delhi Technological University (DTU), advocated for improving the pollution under control (PUC) regime to ensure that vehicles on the road are well-maintained. "In its decades-long campaign on the right to clean air, CSE has never recommended the phase-out of personal vehicles based on age. Instead, we have recommended the improvement of fuel and emission standards for vehicles — from BS-0 in the mid-1990s to BS-6 introduction in 2020," a statement from CSE said. It added that it recommended the use of technology such as remote sensing to monitor emissions and identifying polluters while advocating an improved and stringent PUC regime to ensure that on-road vehicles are better maintained. "We know that vehicles, including personal vehicles, contribute the bulk of toxic air emissions, and therefore, we have also recommended massive augmentation of public transport and mobility systems, and vehicle restraint measures like increased parking rates and parking management area plans. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now It is only in the case of commercial vehicles, like trucks, that CSE has researched and recommended targeted fleet renewal and scrappage, but this also with incentives for commercial vehicle owners to replace fleets," CSE said. Some other experts, however, pointed out that the age of the vehicle was a telling factor on the possibility of higher emissions. Deepty Jain, assistant professor at the Transportation Research and Injury Prevention Centre in IIT Delhi, said that the tail-pipe emission of a vehicle depends on the vehicle's age, make, model, kilometres driven, and fitness. "If the annual average kilometres driven is high, one can expect its average emissions per kilometre to be higher than newer vehicles," she said. She added that age becomes one of the benchmarks to omit the emitting vehicles. "The problem is that for vehicles, a baseline must be made. Obtaining a PUC certificate is not difficult, so also the fitness certificate. So how do I really discourage people from using older vehicles? I cannot do anything else but look at the age," Jain said. A 2018 TERI-ARAI study said that approximately 40% of PM2.5 was generated by the transport sector. A recent CSE study based on data from the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology said that around 50% of Delhi's air pollution was caused by vehicle emissions. Experts also pointed out that the existing PUC system was faulty and outdated. A study by DTU even proposed an air quality measure such as an exhaust emission index (EEI) to replace the current PUC system. This EEI would largely rely on the idle testing of carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrocarbons (HC) emission for petrol vehicles and smoke density for diesel vehicles. Dr Rajeev Kumar Mishra, associate professor of environmental engineering at DTU, said maintenance records of vehicles could be identifiers. "Identifying vehicles for phasing out should be based on accumulated mileage, maintenance records and performance by emission norms, not just by age," he said. In 2024, three armoured vehicles used in the Prime Minister's security were denied registration extension by NGT on the grounds of vehicle pollution in Delhi-NCR. The Special Protection Group (SPG) pointed out that the specialised vehicles had only covered 6000, 9500, and 15,000km. However, the BS-III vehicles, then set to de-register in December 2024, were denied extension up to 2029. Green activist Bhavreen Kandhari also called the current no-fuel policy "troubling". The policy encourages people to scrap older cars and buy new ones, which would refresh the vehicle fleet and increase the total number of vehicles on the road. "Clean air won't come from just newer vehicles. It will come with fewer vehicles. That means shifting the focus towards reducing private car dependency," she said. "Age-based bans ignore real-world emissions. An old well-maintained car may emit less than newer, poorly maintained vehicles," she said.
India Today
03-07-2025
- Automotive
- India Today
Delhi banning 10-year-old cars is mindless coercion
Delhi's latest pollution control policy denying fuel to diesel vehicles over 10 years old and petrol vehicles over 15 years old, is a coercive measure that doesn't make sense. The entire focus here is on the age of the vehicle and not how much it has run or how it has been maintained. The measure by the Delhi government disincentivises proper upkeep of vehicles that makes them less polluting. This also cheats people who paid road tax for 15 years but can get to drive their vehicles for just 10 who breathe air worse than cigarette smoke, endure scorching temperatures that can melt roads, and navigate a slew of challenges just by the virtue of being born in the national capital, are now facing this heavy-handed pollution control policy, enforced through Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras at 350 fuel stations, has sparked widespread criticism within days of its implementation from all sections. This Orwellian law, reminiscent of a surveillance state, imposes hefty fines of Rs 10,000 for four-wheelers and Rs 5,000 for two-wheelers, with the threat of vehicle impoundment or scrapping. Fuel station owners also face severe legal repercussions for non-compliance. While Delhi has grappled with severe air pollution since the 1990s, banning nearly a crore vehicles from the roads is counterproductive for several reasons. Here's why this move by the Delhi government is mindless coercion.1. WILL GOVT RETURN 5 YEARS' TAX TO DIESEL VEHICLE OWNERS?advertisementDiesel vehicle owners in India pay road tax for a 15-year vehicle lifespan. But Delhi's policy says the vehicles cannot be used after just 10 years. This discrepancy is making lakhs of vehicle owners question the new law and its Sareen, senior fellow at Observer Research Foundation (ORF), wrote on X on Wednesday, 'Single most stupid rule. Scrap a polluting vehicle even if it's 1 year old; allow a non polluting vehicle even if it's 20 years old. Enforce pollution norms strictly. But scrapping vehicles just on age of vehicle is a brainless thing to do. Since it's NGT dictated no one wants to challenge this foolishness (sic).'The bigger question is, will the government refund five years' worth of road tax to diesel vehicle owners affected by the 10-year ban? And if so, how and when?2. SCRAPPING WELL-MAINTAINED VEHICLES WITH VALID PUCThe blanket ban disregards the condition of the vehicles and penalises even those with valid Pollution Under Control (PUC) subjects the decades-old PUC certificate system to scrutiny. Many on social media said that if a valid PUC is of no relevance and only the vehicle's age determines the emission levels, then the pollution-check certificate system should be Deepty Jain, assistant professor at the Transportation Research and Injury Prevention Centre, IIT Delhi, told The Times of India that a vehicle's tailpipe emissions depend on its age, make, model, kilometres driven, and overall fitness, highlighting that maintenance can significantly influence emission levels beyond just the vehicle's X user, Abhay Anand said, "Bravo Delhi govt! Ban 10-yr-old cars with PUCs, ignore the absurdity, keep taxing us silly, and leave the middle class broke with no compensation. Nothing screams "pollution fix" like forcing loans for shiny new rides while luxury SUVs guzzle fuel. Pure genius! (sic)".3. FIRST WORLD POLICY IN THIRD-WORLD INFRASTRUCTUREDelhi's stringent vehicle ban mirrors policies in developed nations but ignores our infrastructural Delhi, roads and flyovers built by the government crumble in far lesser time than the end-of-life time that the government is putting on the cars. Its focus should be on better and sturdier infrastructure.A host of issues are likely to arise soon, including whether public transport can accommodate those affected by the vehicle ban, whether adequate scrapping infrastructure exists for millions of cars, and whether scrapping itself will contribute to push is very well towards e-vehicles (EVs), which lack supportive infrastructure. Several housing societies in NCR have been reported as denying permission to install charging points for vehicle ban, thus, seemingly burdens not only citizens but also the city's already strained facilities.4. DELHI GOVERNMENT GOING FOR SOFT TARGET?Delhi's new policy on banning "old" vehicles is seemingly a soft target, and conveniently sidesteps other factors that contribute to the air pollution crisis that require a larger political dust, which even the Supreme Court flagged, and construction dust are not monitored or addressed. In winters, Delhi becomes a gas chamber because of stubble burning in neighbouring states. Addressing these factors requires political will. It seems the Delhi government has chosen to act tough on vehicles – a move that will impact the middle class, which is a soft target.5. PRIVATE CARS SMALL PART OF POLLUTION POOLVehicular emissions, while significant, aren't Delhi's only source of air pollution. Also, private vehicles are a smaller part of the polluting to a 2024 Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) study, motor vehicles accounted for 51.5% of local PM2.5 emissions in Delhi between October 12 to November 3, 2024. Of this, two- and three-wheelers accounted 50%, and heavy-duty vehicles make up 30%, while private cars contribute around 20%.advertisementBut there are regional sources like stubble burning, which contribute up to 38% of the total PM2.5 on peak days. Then there is road dust, too, which makes up 3.6–4.1% of local PM2.5 pollution in early winter (October–November). However, a 2015 study by IIT Kanpur found it can contribute up to 38% of PM2.5 over a full year, especially in dry also reportedly contributes 6.7–7.9% to the air on private vehicles, hence, diverts attention from these broader air pollution new law may seem well-intentioned to many, but clearly overlooks practical realities and broader pollution sources.- EndsMust Watch
