The Delhi government will implement its ban on fuel distribution for older vehicles starting in the middle of April based on a statement by Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa. The introduction of the fuel ban which was originally scheduled for April 1 suffered delays because of delays in modification projects at certain filling stations.
Only vehicles within specified age limits are allowed to drive in Delhi where diesel vehicles should be ten years or younger and petrol vehicles should be fifteen years or younger. During the last two years the government began confiscating and destroying vehicles unless they held proper sale permission outside Delhi-NCR and when they stood on public roads.
As quoted by Indian Express, Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa stated that, “The reason behind delaying the implementation is that a few petrol pumps have not made the structural changes necessary to implement the policy decision. There will have to be separate areas from where old cars will exit. There has to be a clear passage for the vehicles that can get fuel. These are small changes and will be made soon. Most pumps in the city have complied.”
He also mentioned that “It is better to wait a few days and implement the project in one go than to do it in fits and starts. All pumps have to refuse fuel to old vehicles otherwise the plan will fail. It should take 10-15 more days to implement.”
The new BJP government initiated the fuel ban as an active measure against air pollution in Delhi. A system connects Transport Department information to automatic cameras that employ license plate recognition for monitoring fuel stations in operation. A camera system will activate an alarm when it identifies an old vehicle through its number plate scan. The system implements operation just like toll booth FASTag functionality. There are 600 fuel stations in Delhi and greater than 450 of them adhere to the new specifications.
