Air Pollution Delhi: The air quality situation in Delhi continues to remain from poor to severe. In view of this, the Delhi government has announced strict measures to reduce air pollution in the national capital. These include ban on getting diesel/petrol for vehicles without valid Pollution Control Certificate (PUC) and ban on entry of non-BS-VI vehicles coming from outside the city. These steps will be effective from Thursday and have been announced by Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa. These rules are part of the emergency measures under the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP). The move will prevent lakhs of vehicles registered outside Delhi from entering the national capital.
What is BS-VI criteria?
Bharat Stage (BS) emission standards are set by the government to regulate emissions of air pollutants from motor vehicles including internal combustion engine and spark-ignition engine equipment. The central government has made it mandatory that vehicle manufacturers will have to manufacture, sell and register only BS-VI (BS6) vehicles from April 1, 2020. The first emission standards in India were implemented in 1991 for petrol vehicles and in 1992 for diesel vehicles. After this, catalytic converter became mandatory for petrol vehicles and unleaded petrol was introduced in the market.
BS6 emission standard
BS6 is the newest and strictest standard related to vehicular pollution implemented in India, which was introduced in the year 2020. To rapidly reduce air pollution, India bypassed BS5 standards and directly adopted BS6, which is at par with the global level. Under this, use of low sulfur fuel (10 ppm) is mandatory. To reduce pollution in vehicles, modern technologies like ‘Diesel Particulate Filter’ (DPF) and ‘On-Board Diagnostics’ (OBD) have been used. Its main objective is to improve air quality by reducing harmful elements like nitrogen oxides (NOx) and particulate matter. This technology helps in monitoring vehicle emissions in real time.
Why was BS-VI implemented
The smoke emitted from vehicles makes a major contribution to the polluted air of Delhi. Especially in the winter months when fog accumulates close to the ground due to cold. Experts estimate that up to 40 percent of particle pollution in NCR, especially in densely populated areas, is caused by vehicles. By banning vehicles that emit excess smoke, officials are hoping to reduce pollution levels and protect public health. Apart from the non-BS6 ban, the Delhi government has also tightened enforcement under GRAP, which includes reducing the movement of old and high-emission vehicles on the road.
This ban, implemented to control pollution, is likely to affect a large number of vehicles that commute to Delhi every day for work or personal reasons. According to the estimated data of NCR, the number of vehicles registered outside Delhi which do not meet BS6 standards is 11 to 12 lakh. More than 2 lakh non-BS6 vehicles are being affected in Gurugram. The number of such vehicles in Noida is more than 4 lakh. About 5.5 lakh vehicles in Ghaziabad have come under the purview of this ban. These are vehicles that follow old emission standards and have been banned from entering Delhi due to the current pollution campaign.
Why did Delhi’s medicine deteriorate?
Many geographical, seasonal and human reasons are responsible for the deterioration of Delhi’s air and its becoming ‘poisonous’. During winter, due to low temperature and slow wind speed, a situation of ‘Temperature Inversion’ is created. In this, the cold air traps the pollutants close to the ground, so that they are not able to spread in the sky and a dense blanket of ‘smog’ is formed. The huge number of vehicles (about 1.2 crore) in Delhi-NCR is the largest local source of PM2.5 emissions. According to statistics, the share of vehicles in local pollution in winter can be 40% to 50%. Road dust and large-scale construction work increase PM10 levels.
