Drive to send overaged diesel vehicles directly for scrapping

In an effort to push residents to scrap overage vehicles, the Delhi transport department will launch a crackdown from Monday to identify diesel vehicles older than 15 years in the Capital and directly send them for scrapping.

Delhi transport commissioner Ashish Kundra said such vehicles will be impounded and sent to the scrapping yard if they are found plying on city roads or parked in public places.

According to orders passed by the National Green Tribunal in 2015 and the Supreme Court in 2018, registered diesel vehicles over 10 years old and petrol vehicles over 15 years old cannot operate in NCR. 'But for now, we are starting the drive with only diesel vehicles that are above 15 years old because they are technically the oldest and the most polluting ones. As our campaign starts from Monday, we urge all owners of old diesel cars, trucks, tempos or buses that are above 15 years old to scrap their vehicles. We have eight empanelled scrappers, the list of which is available on the website of the Delhi transport department. From September 27, if our enforcement team finds any such vehicle parked in public or running in the city, it will be impounded and sent for scrapping. The money from scrapping will be given to the vehicle owner,' said Kundra.

The transport department plans to expand the drive in the coming weeks by roping in the Delhi Police and municipal corporations.

Officials from the enforcement wing of the transport department said the commissioner has sanctioned 56 teams for launching the crackdown, with six persons in each team.

'For the first week, we have identified 2,000 diesel vehicles registered in Delhi in 2006 and pulled out the addresses of such owners. Our teams will visit these areas and if the vehicle is found parked in public spaces or being driven around, it will be immediately seized. Apart from this, at least seven teams are being attached to the authorised scrappers who will coordinate scrapping of the impounded vehicles and ensure the due amount is paid to the



vehicle owner. The money for the scrapped vehicle is given on the basis of weight,' said an official on condition of anonymity.

As per state records, Delhi now has 11.9 million registered vehicles which is higher than any city in India. At least 150,000 vehicles older than 15 years have been de-registered so far, making it illegal to drive them anywhere in the country. In addition to this, the government estimates there are 3.8 million overaged vehicles in Delhi, including around three million petrol vehicles and at least 77,000 diesel vehicles.

The drive comes at a time when different Delhi government agencies and departments are launching their winter pollution action plans to keep Delhi-NCR's air quality, which usually goes from bad to worse between October and January, under check.

Vehicular emissions contribute around 9% of the PM10 (particulate matter of 10 micron size) load in Delhi and around 20% of the PM2.5 (particulate matter of 2.5 micron size) load, as reported in a 2016 study by IIT-Kanpur.

For those who own Delhi registered vehicles older than 15 years, scrapping is the only option as the transport department will not issue a no objection certificate (NOC) to facilitate its sale in other states.

Delhi's motor licensing officers will, however, issue NOCs for diesel vehicles that are 10-15 years old. 'The vehicles cannot be used in Delhi, but these NOCs can be used in select states to get the vehicle re-registered there. It is illegal to drive any such vehicle without re-registration in that state,' said a senior transport official.

States where such vehicles are allowed to be sold and re-registered include Rajasthan, which allows it in all its districts; Bihar (18 districts); Maharashtra (26 districts); Uttar Pradesh (33 districts); West Bengal (all districts, but only BS-IV vehicles); and Meghalaya (all districts).