The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers has laid out a series of facts and observations that clearly proves that by banning diesel cars with engine capacities of 2000cc through the December 16, 2015 order of the Supreme Court,  the court has merely gone after a soft target (read automobile industry).

This order has been passed after totally ignoring the findings of the most summary of the recent study on source apportionment for NCT of Delhi shared with the Court, which mentions that the vehicles are responsible for only 20 pc of the pollution in Delhi, out of which only 14-15pc is attributable to passenger cars. This makes the overall pollution load of passenger cars a miniscule number of just 3 pc.

SIAM further noted that the Auto Industry is also concerned on the unavailability of a Comprehensive Action Plan for addressing the issue of air pollution in Delhi.

“The Automobile Industry appreciates the concern of the Hon’ble Supreme Court on the high levels of air pollution, specially particulate matter emissions in Delhi. The pollution issue in Delhi needs to be looked at holistically if the objective of improving the air quality is to be achieved, said SIAM. In light of this, the Hon’ble Supreme Court Order banning private diesel passenger vehicles and SUVs of 2000 cc engine capacity and above is most unfortunate. While this would certainly hurt some segments of the automotive industry, it will not bring about any perceptible improvement in the air quality of Delhi. However, Auto Industry welcomes the Hon’ble Courts direction for controlling pollution from other sources which has been neglected for last couple of decades,” the SIAM noted stated..

Meanwhile, Zakir Merchant, Partner, Khaitan & Co, commenting on the recent ruling by SC on the ban of registrations of diesel vehicles in Delhi stated,  “It may be unfortunate for manufacturers to be banned who are meeting emission norms. A review petition on this particular issue with stronger scientific data could be the way forward”.

He said, “Emission norms applicable to diesel vehicles are primarily governed by the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 and the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989. BS-IV standards only apply to certain large cities while the rest of India is still on BS-III standards. Migration to higher standards is the need of the hour. The order of the Court in part has directed a segment of luxury vehicles which in the ideal world would meet Nitrogen Oxide levels as per Indian standards.”

SIAM reaction

SIAM stated that restricting sales of BS IV compliant vehicles will further delay the proportion of BS IV vehicles on the road, while older BS 1/2/3 vehicles would continue to ply.

 “If reduction of pollution was the objective, the Hon’ble Court could have encouraged more BS IV vehicles to be sold and could have restricted use of older vehicles that pollute more, as one old vehicle emits emissions equivalent to five new vehicles. Hence, old vehicles entering from outside should also pay environmental compensation tax. Bringing in better technology to replace older technologies would have been more effective in meeting the challenge of pollution and air quality,” SIAM observed.

No Comprehensive Action Plan

The Auto Industry is also concerned on the unavailability of a Comprehensive Action Plan for addressing the issue of air pollution in Delhi, SIAM stated. Way back in the year 2003, the Auto Fuel Policy had recommended several measures to address the issue of air pollution.  Out of these, only handful of recommendations concerning the auto industry was implemented while no action was taken on the other causes of pollution. “Single minded approach to address only the auto industry which is a soft target has resulted in high pollution continuing in Delhi, despite of auto industry moving rapidly to BS IV norms within a short period of 10 years – a feat not performed by any other country till date. It is distressing to note that lessons from the past have not been learnt,” SIAM said in a press note.

 Historical data shows that the pollution levels in Delhi always rise from September to December and always starts falling from January till August onwards, whether the number of vehicles increases or not. Therefore, taking any decision to ban a certain segment of vehicles based on rising pollution from September to December would not yield the desired result.

SIAM suggested the following measures if pollution has to be effectively addressed:-

a) Complete the construction of bypasses in Delhi, which has been delayed for several years, so that the truck traffic not destined for Delhi could be effectively diverted.

b) Have accountability to ensure that burning of biomass and paddy fields is immediately stopped in and around NCR.

c) Employ dust collectors and vacuum cleaners to clean the dust on the road kerb-sides

d) Urgently lay down a policy for remove and scrappage of old and highly polluting vehicles off the road.

e) Constitute an Expert Committee consisting of all stakeholders to draw up an holistic action plan for short, medium and long term with quantifiable targets based upon data to ensure sustained air quality improvements.