NEW DELHI: Almost two months after Euro IV norms were effected in the country, not a single truck or bus has been rolled out with the new specifications and registered at any Regional Transport Office (RTO) in the city.
According to experts, the first lot of heavy vehicles with new emission norms will only be supplied by July, which would be a delay of three months.
With the result, even as Euro IV compliant diesel is being sold across the capital, the aim of improving air quality by reducing pollution levels still remains a distant dream. With the Delhi government worried about pollution levels before the Commonwealth Games in October, it is imperative that heavy vehicles like trucks and buses be reigned in as they are one of the major contributors to air pollution in the city.
"Till date, not a single truck or bus has been made available at retail outlets/authorized dealerships of the commercial vehicle manufacturers in 13 cities including NCR. Even as the new Euro IV emission norms for trucks and buses were notified for implementation from April 1, 2010, they are far from being implemented," said S P Singh of Indian Federation of Transportation Research and Training (IFTRT).
Singh added that buses and trucks conforming to the new norms are not likely to hit the roads before July 2010 — a delay of three months. Moreover, the RTOs and state transport departments of all the NCR towns reportedly don't even have 'type approval' certifications of ARAI, Pune or VRDE, Ahmednagar for trucks and buses submitted by commercial vehicle manufacturers.
"Even, authorized commercial vehicle dealers in cities like Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Delhi, Noida, Gurgaon don't have any price list, technical details and inventory relating to goods carriages/trucks and buses complying with Euro-IV emission norms. The implementation of Euro-IV for trucks and buses (5 ton-49 ton range) will be done from July 2010 only," he added.
