The Supreme Court-appointed Environment Pollution (Prevention & Control) Authority (EPCA) on Wednesday said that to control the increasing air pollution in the national capital restrictions have to be implemented on private vehicles.
In a letter to Centre Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP) Task Force, EPCA wrote that in the given situation, the only option is to look at either a complete ban on all private vehicles (without the identification of petrol or diesel), other than CNG and/or restriction on plying by number plate (odd-even).
It further said that the odd-even scheme, as practiced in other cities for similar pollution abatement, is done for extended hours and includes all private vehicles.
The EPCA pointed out that vehicles contribute as much as 40 per cent of the total emission load in Delhi and roughly 30 per cent in the region according to SAFAR emission inventory.
It added that even after removing trucks and other diesel commercial vehicles the remaining vehicles add up to substantial load, particularly private diesel vehicles which contribute substantially to both NOx and PM emissions.
The letter also added that though the Supreme Court had directed for vehicle sticker scheme, which would identify vehicles by fuel type/age, the scheme has still not been implemented by the government.
The EPCA also highlighted that out that for the last 12-13 days, based on the CPCB Task Force recommendations, EPCA had directed for closure of all construction activity; all industrial activity (other than based on natural gas); all brick kilns, stone-crushers and hotmix plants.
It also said that in the days post Diwali, the entry of trucks into Delhi was stopped. However, it highlighted that such measures could not have continued to impose these restrictions beyond the l2-I3 days.
Source: Zee News