Introduction: vehicle cause severe pollution
The Supreme Court directed
the transport department of the Delhi-NCR region to “immediately announce” that
petrol vehicle older than 15 years and diesel vehicle older than 10 years will
not ply in the region. Violation of Supreme Court and National Green Tribunal
(NGT) orders will be impounded.
Polluted air
Delhi’s quality turns “severe” for the first time this
season with crop stubble burning intensifying in neighboring states. The overall
Air quality Index was 401, falling in the severe category, the highest this season
Central Pollution Control Board Officials stated
Concerns
In Delhi only have around 38 lakh vehicles that fall in this
category. However, this is just the number of vehicle which is registered with
the Delhi Transport Department. There are no figures for how many of them are
still plying in Delhi-NCR. These vehicle most either be sold outside Delhi
where they are allowed to ply, or to be scrapped and recycled.
Ambitious Policies
India’s vehicle scrapping policy has remained under discussion
for at least three years now. In august 2015, transport ministry were planning
to bring such scheme in which if any person sells his older vehicle, he/she would get a certificate
which, at the time of new purchase wouldl get a discount of
up to 50,000. For small vehicle like cars, it will be up to 30,000. Besides,
there will be exemptions in taxes and total benefits for big vehicle like
trucks will be up to rs. 1.5 lakh.
The proposed policy aims to curb vehicle pollution by scrapping
old commercial vehicle that emits toxic gases. Vehicles manufactured between
1990 and 2000 are like to be brought under the ‘old vehicle’ category which
means all commercial vehicle produced during this period will be scrapped.
Based on the parameters such as usage and emission, over 7
lakh vehicle will have to scrapped, which is 25 percent of all vehicle produced
during the period and still on road. Yet there is no vehicle-scrapping policy
in India and condition is getting worsen day by day.
Past recommendations
The society of India Automobile Manufacturers (Siam), the
apex auto sector body, recommended taking all pre-1996 car models off the
roads. The society advised that regular scrap page can help phase out old,
polluting private and commercial vehicles. The idea was to get them replaced by
new, green friendly versions.
How other countries offers and incentives?
In India there is no any rule, offer or incentive for public
to scrap old vehicle to buy newer, cleaner ones. Which policies were planned is not executed
yet. While in U.S and U.K both came up with policies in 2009 to encourage
people to scrap old, fuel-vehicles with new ones. The aim was two way benefits –
to boost sales in the motor industry and to tackle emissions.
In Beijing, there have been two rounds of an incentive-based
policy to get pulling cars off the roads. In 2011, the city started a programme
that targeted cars registered in 1995 or earlier. People were paid between 350$
and2, 300$ to scrap these vehicles. In 2014 the city administration brought in
another policy that ordered scrapping of ‘yellow label’ cars. These cars were the
ones that were not meeting the emission and fuel standard of china.
In countries such as Germany and the U.S, there are guidelines
for recycling 80% to 90% of the vehicle’s parts.
Challenges
If policies would be implemented in India, it is not sure
whether the idea would work or not as India is a very difficult and hard to
handle country. In India, where people agitate and go against with an even minor
change, this can turn into a political war as well. People don’t like changes, they start protesting even on
little transport fare hikes, so it’s a very difficult task to bring change in
country. Today’s automobile prices stretch the budget of even the
middle class. And public transport options are poor in most Indian cities. Radical
plans however well-intentioned can’t be introduces by fiat without causing
public resentment and anger.
Conclusion
The measures which are practical in India can be performed. Start the proper
enforcement of the stringent emission norms. Thus along with punitive fines for
violations, a strict, corruption-free system can monitor vehicular fitness
standards is what required. That way, the responsibility for keeping old
vehicles in shape or replacing them will be on the owners. Shifting to cleaner
fuel options like CNG or model like electric cars can be incentivized. Implementation
of FAME scheme should be imply in all metro cities, government should build
efficient, comfortable mass transport system, there is also a need to price
control to curb the fuel’s environmentally hazardous over use.
