Recently in Lok Sabha, the Government declared that based on the findings released by Central Pollution Control Board, the Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA) has recommended a ban on diesel vehicles in Delhi. This would greatly reduce the production of smoke particles in the capital, as per EPCA. Commenting on the situation, Environment minister Jayanthi Natarajan commented during Question Hour, “The EPCA in a report in 2012 has stated that benefits of CNG transition are not visible due to growth in diesel vehicles, because diesel vehicles are known to emit higher smoke particles and Nitrogen Oxides than petrol cars.”
In 2007, a survey was carried out by the Central Pollution Control Board in various cities such as Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Delhi, Kanpur and Chennai, which revealed that the ambient air quality data in respect of particulate matter has occurred with the contribution of all the vehicles, ranging from 2 to 48 per cent. Based on these findings, the EPCA had filed a detailed report to the Supreme Court, titled “Controlling pollution from the growing number of diesel cars in Delhi".
The Government is taking various steps to reduce the level of emissions in city. Following the same, in 2004, the Delhi Government had made it compulsory for all the public transport vehicles to switch to CNG (Compressed Natural Gas), which is a clean fuel. Besides, Bharat Stage-IV emission standards have been implemented on all the vehicles. The mass transport system (Delhi Metro) has been enhanced to prevent more individuals from using their personal vehicles. Other methods include reducing sulphur content in diesel and petrol, enforcing pollution under control norms and encouragement for bio-diesel and electric vehicles.
