Gurgaon: More than a month after the Supreme Court-appointed Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA) ordered a stop on the registration of new diesel autos and renewal of fitness certificates for old ones with immediate effect, there seems to be no change at the ground level as new certificates are still being issued in the city.
Sources in the regional transport authority (RTA) told TOI that all autos have to undergo a fitness test annually and the transport department had decided to stop issuing renewal certificates from January 1, but the orders continue to be flouted. "We are still registering new diesel autos as well as issuing fitness certificates to the old ones as well," said an RTA official, requesting anonymity.
While the regional transport officer could not be reached for a comment despite repeated attempts, members of the diesel auto association confirmed their autos had been given fresh fitness certificates by the department.
"We had a meeting with the district officials on January 27, where we informed them that we have 10-year permits and we cannot go off roads just in a day and give up on our source of income," said Dharam Singh, Samast Auto Rickshaw Welfare Association. Singh said they were given assurances that diesel autos will be allowed to ply on city roads if they are not more than 10 years old.
The fresh setback in the fight against pollution comes after the state government backtracked on its plan to phase out diesel autos from January 2016, by pushing back the date to March of this year, because of the lack of bus routes to compensate for the dip in autos. In the absence of any action from officials, the auto union members said they have taken the initiative at their level to phase out autos that are more than 10 years old from MG Road completely.
The RTA has also failed to comply with a Haryana State Pollution Control Board directive seeking strict action against autos that are not serviced regularly and have not undergone a pollution test. The pollution board, in a letter to the RTA in December last year, had highlighted the immediate need to take strict action against defaulters. However, sources in the transport authority informed the inspection has not started yet.
According to estimates, there are nearly 15,000 diesel autos in Gurgaon, of which 60% are not serviced regularly and thus are a potential source of pollutants, especially particulate matter (PM), carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons and volatile organic compounds, to name a few.
"The level of pollutants, especially PM 10 and PM 2.5, is more than three times of WHO's prescribed limit in Gurgaon. Diesel autos are definitely one of the major sources of air pollution," said NiranjanRaje, a member of the Expert Appraisal Committee of the Union ministry of environment, forests and climate change, and an EPCA member.
When contacted, deputy commissioner T L Satyaprakash said, "I will take a report from RTA on the matter and take the required action."
