delhi smog

Delhi Government willing to scrap old diesel cars, suggests tips to curb pollution

Air pollution has been one the primary bane of the modern city. A bane that refuses to die. Delhi, of all the places in India should know this by now. After all, it wears the crown of ‘The most polluted city in the world’. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Delhi is twice as bad for you lungs as compared to Beijing. If that wasn’t bad enough, WHO went on to say that around 13 lakh people stand the risk of losing their lives each year!

Delhi pollution

According to a study, Delhi’s air (at best) contains loads of cancer-causing carcinogenic agents. It pointed out that the levels were 21 times higher than normal, now that’s alarming to say the least. To tackle this hazardous situation and do their part, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) had asked the Delhi Government to get rid of all diesel cars that were over a decade old. We have reporting on this green cause for a while, but seems like the authorities haven’t really done much.

Delhi government’s standing counsel Rahul Mehra said, “As far as I know, we (Delhi govt) are committed to a clean, pollution-free environment. We support the NGT order on banning more than 10-year-old diesel vehicles and are all for the implementation of the ban. All that we have said is we need time to implement certain measures like more buses on the road so that there is no crisis before the government starts implementing NGT’s orders.”

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Since the Centre is delaying the implementation of NGT’s ban, Delhi Govt. has come with some suggestions. The Govt. dispatched an affidavit to the NGT which aims to make life a little less toxic. It suggested certain measures concerning the use of private diesel vehicles. This includes the restriction of the diesel cars per family to just one vehicle. In cities like London, some vehicles require the payment of congestion charges. Delhi Govt. suggests that vehicles that are not registered in the city and enter it, should be made liable to pay the charges.

The Supreme Court will be conducting a hearing on this matter and will go through the Delhi government’s views regarding the same. All the matters relating to the NGT will be heard by the bench. The NGT sessions will be held in the second week of July. Let us know what you think about this whole issue. Write your opinions in the comments section below.

Click here for more on the National Green Tribunal.

via ET auto

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