The Government of India has decided on banning all commercial trucks, age 15 and above from public roads starting April 2016 on wards.
The Government of India has decided on banning all commercial trucks, age 15 and above from public roads starting April 2016 on wards. The manner in which emissions test are conducted for new vehicles are also under review, with a new system expected in place to make sure the rising pollution levels are brought under control.
Government to ban trucks older than 15 years from April
As per statistics from World Health Organization (WHO), Delhi is the most polluted city in the world with thirteen others featuring in the top twenty cities. The capital of India has roughly 8.5 million vehicles plying on the roads and it has become extremely important to check the health of vehicles to provide safe living conditions for the 16 million residents.
Centre for Science and Environment(CSE) thinks that 60 percent of the pollution is called by old and ill maintained commercial vehicles and it is necessary to curb this pollution. Vijay Chhibber, the top bureaucrat in the transport ministry said, “We are to make 15 years the end of the life for all commercial vehicles,” adding, the order, not previously reported, would be made public within 10 days and the ban enforced next April.
The government on its part has started various other initiatives like levying ‘Green Tax’ on vehicles passing through the city, encouraging them to take an alternative route, bypassing the city. Government of India has brought forward the date tighter emission norms by three years to 2019, but still lenient compared to the ones in western world. According to statistics available, on an average over 1,400 new vehicles are registered in Delhi everyday adding to the traffic and pollution problem. The metro rail network has grown but the use of private vehicles has not come down.
WHO measured pollution in PM10 and PM2.5, i.e. particles smaller than 10 or 2.5 microns. These harmful pollutants cling to the lungs and can cause disease. In Delhi, the annual average is 153 ug/m3 (micrograms per cubic metre of air), which is six times the WHO’s recommended maximum.