The Environment Pollution Control and Prevention Authority (EPCA) move to implement a uniform structure on commercial vehicles in the entire country has been welcomed by environment experts on Saturday. They claimed that the directive, when implemented, will reduce air pollution in the region.
On Friday, EPCA directed the transport departments of Delhi-NCR to register only BS-IV vehicles, including commercial trucks, from April 1.
This came with an aim to tackle air pollution in Delhi-NCR which has been marked “poor” since the last three months.
At present, commercial vehicles having all-India permits run on Bharat Stage (BS)-III engines, which are a major contributor to pollution.
The shift from BS-III to BS-IV will reduce air pollution considerably as the BS-IV engines emit 80% less pollutants than BS-III.
“In Delhi-NCR, the respective governments had implemented BS-IV emission norms in 2010. This new directive is different from the earlier one as it now enforces BS-IV in the entire country,” said AnumitaRoychowdhury, executive director , research and advocacy and head of the air pollution and clean transportation programme, Centre for Science and Environment.
When asked about the benefit to Gurgaon, she said, “Long distance commercial vehicles, which enter Gurgaon are one of the major sources of air pollution. After this directive, Gurgaon will be rid of them as they will not be allowed to ply on Delhi-NCR roads after April 1.”
The regional transport authority officials said they will take necessary steps in the city to follow the directive.
“We will follow the directives of the Supreme Court. We have not received any order as of now; however, we will take the required steps for compliance of the order,” Trilok Chand Secretary, regional transport authority (RTA), said.
Earlier, the RTA has indentified 5,000 commercial vehicles, which are unfit to ply on roads. This came after the Supreme Court had asked to ban all 10-year-old diesel and 15-year-old petrol vehicles in Delhi-NCR.
