Delhi Pollution Update: SC may extend diesel ban to small, mid-segment cars

Ahead of the next hearing on February 18 to revisit the ban on 2000cc and above vehicles in the NCR, the Supreme Court has received a plea seeking modification on the order. The appeal has put the responsibility of Delhi’s pollution on diesel cars and pursues the extension of the ban to smaller cars too. The carmakers of the country are already pursuing the vacation of the order in the region.

Dr Sanjay Kulshrestha, a paediatric surgeon who has impleaded himself in the MC Mehta vs Union of India case against high air pollution levels in Delhi, appealed that mid- and small-segment diesel cars be also brought under the ambit of the ban.

The petitioner in his plea has stated how manufacturers in India are ‘trying to defy SC orders’ by making 1.99-litre engines. This does not reflect moral commitment of auto companies towards the health of our citizens, said Kulshrestha.

This is a direct attack on Indian carmaker Mahindra & Mahindra’s reported move of replacing the 2.2-litre mHawk engine with a 1990cc substitute. Mahindra, notably, has been among the most adversely affected companies after the ban in the country.

Another concern raised by Kulshrestha in his submission was the SC’s consideration of a one-time green tax or a compensation charge to discourage the sale of certain segments of diesel cars, but people who bought these cars after paying the tax would continue to have the “legal right to pollute.”

Ringing alarm bells against the impact of diesel cars, he added that Euro-IV-compliant diesel cars were emitting about 27 times more particulate matter (PM) and 10 times more oxides of nitrogen (NOx) than their petrol counterparts. “In fact, only at Euro-VI/BS-VI are diesel cars more or less at par with petrol ones”.

Citing a need to upgrade the current pollution norms, the petitioner has also demanded auto companies and refineries throwing out smoke to adopt BS-VI emission norms at the earliest.