Will urge SC for uniform rules on overage vehicles: CM

New Delhi: Chief minister Rekha Gupta on Sunday said Delhi govt will urge the Supreme Court to allow uniform rules on overage vehicles in the national capital, in line with those followed across the country.

"We will tell the Supreme Court about the pollution control measures taken by the govt. The parameters that are applicable in the entire country should also apply to Delhi. We want Delhiites not to face any inconvenience," she said, adding that they are committed to providing relief to people.

A 2018 Supreme Court judgment banned diesel vehicles older than 10 years and petrol vehicles older than 15 years in Delhi. In 2014, a National Green Tribunal order also prohibited the parking of vehicles aged over 15 years in public places.

Last week, Delhi govt urged the Centre's air quality panel to immediately suspend the fuel ban on overage vehicles and said it will make "all-out efforts" to resolve issues related to restrictions on the movement of end-of-life vehicles on city roads.

Delhi environment minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa, in his letter to the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) chairman Rajesh Verma, said the fuel ban is not feasible and cannot be implemented due to "technological challenges". CM Gupta said the govt "will echo the sentiments of the people" before the Supreme Court.

Till March this year, there were more than 60 lakh overage vehicles in Delhi. The previous year, 39,273 were scrapped while in 2023, the figure stood at 22,397.

In his letter, Sirsa said that a stage-wise implementation that begins only in Delhi will not serve its intended purpose.

"It is highly likely to lead to vehicle owners procuring fuel from adjacent districts like Gurgaon, Faridabad and Ghaziabad, thereby circumventing the ban and potentially fostering an illegal cross-border market for fuel, which would further exacerbate the problem," he said.