The Commission For Air Quality Management (CAQM) has issued a new policy to help curtail air pollution levels in Delhi and the surrounding National Capital Region (NCR). The new policy covers plans to control pollution levels from across sectors from industrial plants to heavy generators and the auto sector. Aside from updating the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), the CAQM also called for the phasing out of all diesel autorickshaws currently operating in Delhi’s neighbouring NCR territories to be phased out be end-2026.
Only electric and CNG autorickshaws will be allowed to ply in the NCR region from end 2026.
Aside from Delhi, the NCR also includes 14 districts from Haryana, 8 from Uttar Pradesh and 2 from Rajasthan. The phasing out is set to be implemented in a phased manner with Gurugram, Faridabad, Ghaziabad and Gautam Buddh Nagar to phase out diesel autos by end 2024. Diesel autos were already either phased out or converted to CNG in Delhi with none currently registered in Delhi.
Also see: Around 1 Million Diesel Vehicles Could Be Banned In The Delhi-NCR Region If AQI crosses 450
Additionally, the policy calls for only CNG and electric autorickshaws to be registered in the NCR region from January 1, 2023. Additionally the policy requires that all vehicles being refuelled at petrol pumps to be checked for valid Pollution Under Control (PUC) certificates prior to being refuelled.
The policy also listed out plans for further development of CNG and LNG fueling stations in the NCR region and on highways. The move is targeted at pushing for adoption of cleaner burning fuels in large commercial vehicles which primarily use diesel.
The CAQM also updated its GRAP which could see the use of non BS6 diesel vehicles be banned in Delhi and NCR should Air Quality Index (AQI) levels deteriorate above the 450. Lower levels of AQI signify healthier air quality.