While the government initially planned to stop giving fuel to old vehicles by April 1, pending structural changes at some of the fuel stations have delayed the implementation. The decision has been delayed by mid-April, said the environment minister Manjeet Singh Sirsa on Monday. The decision to stop giving fuel to old vehicles is part of the new BJP government’s fight against air pollution in Delhi.
“The reason behind delaying the implementation is that a few petrol pumps have not made the structural changes necessary to implement the policy decision. There will have to be separate areas where old cars will exit. There has to be a clear passage for the vehicles that can get fuel. These are small changes and will be made soon. Most pumps in the city have complied,” said Minister Sirsa.
Delhi Pollution Policy
Overage or end-of-life vehicles include diesel vehicles older than 10 years and petrol vehicles older than 15 years. Over the last few years, the Delhi government has been trying to scrap these old vehicles, if necessary permissions to sell them in areas outside Delhi NCR are not obtained or if they are parked in public places such as roadside
The new plan will be implemented based on linking the transport department data with automated cameras and registration plate recognition systems at fuel pumps. The camera will scan the number plate of the vehicles and if a vehicle is found old, it will sound an alarm. The system will work in a similar manner to the FASTag system of the toll booth. There are a total of 600 fuel pumps in Delhi, of which more than 450 have already complied with the requirements, according to the sources.
