As the capital city gasped for air amid high pollution levels, the Delhi government on November 5 banned all non-BS-6 compliant diesel cars and other diesel vehicles from plying in the National Capital Region (NCR) on the recommendations of the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM). The restrictions were reduced on Sunday as GRAP restrictions were downgraded to stage 3, but the ban on BS-4 diesel vehicles has continued. Even a penalty of INR 20,000 was announced in case a violation was found.
But here’s the twist.
To quantify what diesel car (BS-4) owners are likely to do to comply with the ban, LocalCircles conducted a survey, which received responses from 9,225 owners of BS-4 diesel cars. Of them, 11% said they don’t care about the ban and use their diesel cars.
This, in effect, means that 11% of the respondents are likely flouting the ban and are even ready to deal with the enforcement officer for it.
THE LOCALCIRCLES SURVEY
Subsequent to the ban, LocalCircles asked citizens, especially those using diesel vehicles, this question — Diesel passenger cars (BS-4) have been banned from plying in Delhi NCR by CAQM due to pollution. What do you plan to do?
Most were unaware of the BS classification and asked if their diesel car could still ply in Delhi-NCR. Some also raised concerns about the last-minute announcements by CAQM and Delhi Government with no effective communication other than news.
At least 49% of the 9,225 respondents indicated that they “have a petrol or electric car or bike, too, so will use that".
Just 5% assured that they “will not drive at all and stay indoors" and 5% are as yet undecided on their plans.
Of the remaining, 25% plan to “use public transport or taxi instead", while 11% “don’t care about the ban and will use their diesel car". Five per cent admitted they don’t care as they are not currently in Delhi-NCR.
TERMS AND CONDITIONS
As Delhi’s air quality index spiralled to 450, just a notch short of the “severe plus" category, on Thursday, the CAQM had directed authorities to ban the plying of non-BS-VI diesel light motor vehicles in the city and adjoining NCR districts and the entry of trucks into the national capital, as part of anti-pollution measures under stage IV of GRAP.
On Sunday, Delhi’s air pollution levels improved marginally to the lower end of the “very poor" category, prompting the Centre’s air quality panel to lift the curbs. They have now allowed plying of non-BS-VI diesel-powered light motor vehicles in Delhi-NCR.
‘BS’ in BS-VI stands for ‘Bharat Stage’ which signifies the emission regulation standards set by Indian regulatory bodies. While the BS-IV fuels contain 50 parts per million (ppm) sulphur, the BS-VI grade fuel only has 10 ppm sulphur content. Also, the harmful NOx (nitrogen oxides) from diesel cars can be brought down by nearly 70%. In petrol-powered cars, they can be reduced by 25 per cent.
The BS-VI emission norm will bring down the cancer-causing particulate matter in diesel cars by a phenomenal 80%.
THE RESPONDENTS
The survey received responses from over 9,000 diesel vehicle owners (BS-4) located in Delhi and NCR cities of Noida, Ghaziabad, Faridabad and Gurugram. While 63% respondents were men, 37% respondents were women.
The survey was conducted via LocalCircles platform and all participants were validated citizens who had to be registered with LocalCircles to participate in this survey.
LocalCircles is a Community Social Media platform which enables citizens and small businesses to escalate issues for policy and enforcement interventions and enables the Government to make policies that are citizen- and small business-centric.
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