Vehicles In Delhi-NCR Must Have Coloured Fuel Stickers By October

• High-visibility coloured stickers will help identify the fuel type of any car, making it easier for traffic personnel to impose temporary bans.
• Petrol/CNG cars will have a blue sticker, diesel-powered cars will get an orange sticker.
• The stickers, along with high-security registration plates, should make it easier to regulate cars on the road, which in turn could help curb the pollution problem.

The fight to curb vehicular pollution in the Delhi/NCR region drags on with no proper solutions in sight. The EPCA [Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority for NCR] has reminded government authorities in Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan that the deadline for implementing the Supreme Court’s order on new high-visibility fuel stickers on cars in the region is not far away.

Meant to help traffic personnel enforce temporary vehicle bans easily in the region, the coloured hologram stickers differentiate the more polluting diesel-powered four-wheelers from the petrol/CNG-powered ones. Diesel vehicles are supposed to have a striking orange sticker, while petrol/CNG vehicles will have blue stickers placed on an unspecified spot. The stickers will especially come in handy in pollution-related emergencies when diesel-powered vehicles need to be taken off the road for a temporary respite.

While the intention of this order may be for the greater good, the implementation of such a rule is a matter of concern. Delhi/NCR has had problems implementing traffic and vehicular pollution orders before. The Supreme Court had ordered the implementation of high-security registration plates (HSRP) for all cars in the country in 2005, but there still are vehicles on the roads of Delhi/NCR which do not have HSRP. This fact which makes us apprehensive of how easy it’d be to fit the new coloured stickers.

According to reports online, only 76,000 new four-wheelers of the over 50 lakh vehicles plying the roads of Delhi have these coloured stickers on them. Moreover, there is no clarity on how existing four-wheeler owners can get these stickers affixed. Nor are there any concrete plans to add the stickers on older cars. The EPCA wants the process to be completed by October 2019, but the track record of government agencies are not raising hope.

Photos:
main: courtesy jepoirrier on Flickr
second: courtesy NOMAD on Wikimedia Commons