Air Pollution: The sad state of Delhi

[Jijo_Malayil]

Pollution levels are crossing all permissible bounds in Delhi for sometime now, with new studies pointing out to the pathetic state of city which averages a particulate matter(PMI) of 360 ppm, which is ten times to that of say Chennai, another metropolis.

According to the World Health Organisation(WHO) 1.5 million people every year die of air pollution in India. In Delhi, poor quality of air causes irreversible lung damage to 22 lakh or 50 percent of all children.

The environmentalists' hue and cry regarding rising pollution levels are finally taken seriously by both the Judiciary and the Legislative alike with multiple suggestions emerging to reduce emissions and make the city more livable.

The first was the National Green Tribunal (NGT) order banning diesel and petrol vehicles older than 10 & 15 years respectively, heavy cess on Non-Delhi bound trucks crossing the capital at night to the recent Delhi Govt's odd-even number plate strategy (private cars with odd numbers and even numbers to be used on alternate days).

But I think these points should also be considered:

1. Instead of banning vehicles altogether, stricter pollution check and certification will help in lowering emission. Defaulters should lose their fitness certificate for at least 3 months.
2. Non-Delhi bound trucks, numbering thousands that cross the city should be diverted by building periphery roads outside the NCR. The plans for these roads have been lying in cold storage with very slow progress being made.
3. The odd-even scheme of limiting vehicles is a welcome move and will definitely lower traffic & pollution during the peak office hours in the city. But the public transport system has to increase its capacity and improve on last mile connectivity if this is to succeed.
4. Initiatives like E-bike taxis and electric car taxis should be initiated on a massive scale. Bicycles-for-rent and dedicated cycling lanes should improve last-mile-connectivity and encourage people to opt for public transport. Will that ever happen?

Vehicular pollution still consists of just 25% of what is causing the rise of particulate matter in Delhi. Construction dust, burning of fossil fuel by industries and burning agricultural waste are other major contributors in this process.

Authorities need to wake up! Stringent measures of treating industrial emissions, alternative to thermal power plants and builder regulations are the need of the hour. Let's do our part in getting our vehicles checked regularly, opting for public transport whenever possible and be a little vigilant towards potential violators.

[Arjun]

The supreme court has now agreed to ban the registration all diesel vehicles over 2000cc.
This would cover most of the full sized SUVs, and also many luxury cars.
This would be a major blow to the luxury car segment as well as to Toyota, Tata and Mahindra as their cars are over 2000cc and Delhi is a huge market.

"People's life is at stake and you are interested in selling cars," Chief Justice of India TS Thakur said, slamming car dealers who argued against the National Green Tribunal order banning registration of diesel cars.

Last week, the tribunal directed that no new diesel vehicles will be registered in Delhi. The tribunal has also said that central and state government must stop buying diesel cars in Delhi. These will be interim steps till the next date of hearing on January 6, said the green court.

The court has also agreed to ban the entry of trucks more than 10 years old in the national capital region and the green tax for entering NCR would be increased.

In my opinion, these Blanket laws should not be the way to go. Instead, we should follow stricter emission norms, and make sure that ARAI forces manufacturers to follow them.
This would lead to manufacturers working hard, to reduce the emission levels. The engine capacity and fuel type should not be the criteria, but instead the emission levels should be checked and those above a particular level should be banned.

Source : NDTV

[Jijo_Malayil]

Exactly! Arjun Thorough enforcement of the above said suggestions, rather than putting a blanket ban on the sale of diesel vehicles looks like a sensible solution. Plus we as a society needs to be more conscious in reducing emissions in whatever little way possible.

[I Live For Speed]

see there are easier and quicker solutions to this problem. *Rant alert*

• One of my friends autowallah commented that the pollution can be reduced siginificantly right away if they take strict action across Delhi on illegal/road side parking AND manage all major traffic junction better. I thoroughly agree with him, allow me to explain: My drive to my previous office was 35 Km and usually took me an hour BUT on holidays/restricted holidays/weekends it took me 35-45 mins; you see during those 15 mins saved not only is my engine NOT running but the rest of the journey also gives me a better mileage since it's at a constant speed in a higher gear
• These guys don't have the resources to manage the traffic right now properly during peak hours, forget having the bandwidth to implement the rules
• I seriously doubt the Environmental surcharge is being implemented on trucks entering Delhi
• Why can't we move bikes to BS IV standards already?! I mean just coz they form majority of the population doesn't mean they should be exempted, in fact it should be done quicker for them coz it will provide better results as well
• The Delhi-NCR public transport NCR is not spread out enough to reach all corners of NCR
• During the Odd-even system implementation in Paris, the public transport system was free. Delhi public transport system is already struggling with the existing loads how can it manage the load during odd-even days let alone loads should it be made free

[Jijo_Malayil]

• The environment surcharge is being collected just fine, but i don't see a point in that, except if the money is being channelized for providing better public transportation systems.
• BS IV for bikes should be implemented and existing bikes should be included in the odd-even number plate scheme.
• Let's at least try out the odd-even system, let people car-pool or something. Plus with the phase-3 of metro being completed, things will improve i guess.
• As the Delhi Govt don't control the police force in the capital, either large number of security officials should be hired or the law and order should come under Delhi Govt. just to enforce whatever laws that are being enacted.

[Jijo_Malayil]

Finally the Supreme Court steps in!

• No registration of Diesel vehicles above the 2000 cc in NCR till 31st March 2016.
• Non- Delhi bound goods vehicle banned from plying on the capital roads.
• Environment cess to be doubled for commercial vehicles entering Delhi.
• No goods vehicles registered before 2006 allowed entry into Delhi.
• All Taxis to switch to CNG by March 31st 2016.
• Govt. to vacuum clean roads and make pavements through out the city.
• Construction works to adhere to pollution norms, otherwise face shutdown.
• Solid waste not to be burned but to be disposed appropriately.

[CorsaVeloce]

Continuing on what JijoMalayil said, it is for us to see in the long term how these measures pan out. The surcharge that is being collected by NGT from commercial vehicles will indirectly increase the cost of goods coming into the city, and ultimately may cause inflated prices in the capital.
The alternative is to use public transport and that is NOT ideal for a lot of people. The problems with the current transport system are endless; Safety, Connectivity, Comfort etc. Until these problems are addressed, the chances of traffic condition becoming better remain bleak.

As Arjun mentioned about the ban on diesel engines above 2000cc, I think it should have simultaneously included a short-period subsidy on the handful of hybrid cars that we have access to. This would ideally give incentive for sales, and also help manage the supply-demand side of things, as the list of banned vehicles below includes some of the most popular cars.

Chevrolet Tavera, Captiva & Trailblazer

Ford Endeavour

Mitsubishi Pajero Sport

Hyundai Santa Fe

Mahindra Bolero, Scoropio, Xylo, XUV500 & Thar
Mahindra SsangYong Rexton

Tata Aria, Safari Storme, Sumo & Xenon

Toyota Innova, Fortuner, Land Cruiser Prado & Land Cruiser

All Audi's running the 3.0l & 4.2l engines (Q5, Q7, A7 & A8L)

All BMW's with the 3.0l (5 Series, X3 xDrive, X5, X6, 6 series & 7 series)

Jaguar XF & XJ L

The Land Rover stable is quite badly affected as most of their engines are above 2-litre;
Freelander 2, Discovery Sport, Range Rover Everoque, Discovery, Range Rover Sport & Range Rover Vogue

All of Mercedes Benz' models; A Class, B Class, C Class, CLA, GLA, E Class, GLE, CLS, GL, S Class

Volvo affected ranged includes the D5 range; XC60, S60 & S80

Porsche Cayenne, Macan S & the Panamera

Maserati Ghibli & Quattroporte

This ban has caused a stir among manufacturers and the question they all are asking is the long-term plans that our government has in relation to these cars. But as we all know about 'efficient' our governance is, its gonna be a while until further clarity is given.

[Arjun]

The irony here is that the VW E189 series engines, which came under the radar for being polluting would be allowed to register.
This would include Jetta, A4, Octavia and Rapid.
The National Green Tribunal had issued a notice to the center over the sale of the VW group vehicles. This was done way before the odd even rule or other blanket bans, but it has now been ignored.

[Roshun]

Arjun That was exactly what we were discussing in the other VW thread as well.

And here's a note from SIAM. They are obviously disappointed with this ruling and there are some very pertinent points. Pasting the text of the SIAM release below:

SIAM Press Release

Auto Industry Pay the Price for Lack of Holistic Plan

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.

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 Hon’ble Court, which mentions that the vehicles are responsible for only 20 % of the pollution in Delhi, out of which only 14-15% is attributable to passenger cars. This makes the overall pollution load of passenger cars a miniscule number of just 3%. 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.

The Auto Industry is also concerned on the unavailability of a Comprehensive Action Plan for addressing the issue of Air Pollution in Delhi, this was stated by SIAM after the order was passed by the Hon’ble Supreme Court today. 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 handfuls of recommendations concerning the auto industry were 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.

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 would suggest 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 vaccum 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.

New Delhi
16^th December 2016

[kaiserketkar]

One point made is quite pertinent...
older vehicles, particularly those not compliant with BSIV pollute way more than newer vehicles. This applies especially to all commercial vehicles, who additionally suffer from poor upkeep.
Clearly the PUC certification is not working either.

And remember, what is happening in Delhi can very well be enforced in Mumbai, Chennai, B'lore and other metros. You can't have an arbitrary regulation. A big-picture plan needs to be made and implemented.

[Swati Yadav]

Every two years, thousands of car enthusiasts eagerly wait to catch just a glimpse of what the auto expo has to offer. Started in the year 1986, the Delhi auto expo is Asia’s largest, world’s second largest and is always a sight to behold. Held at Pragati Maidan & Greater Noida, the expo is usually a five day affair for general public.

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Apart from bringing an end to dreariness in one’s mundane day to day life, it provides auto enthusiasts and others likewise with an opportunity to explore the vast world of automobiles. Every possible existing auto manufacturer presents the flock of visitors with a view of their upcoming and at times soon to be launched automobiles. What auto expo does for a person is that it enables them with knowledge and insight of what the new vehicles are and as to when they will be launched.

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This in turn provides them with a chance to decide whether they want to try their hand at current market availabilities or to wait for new entries. What often renders the viewers breathless are the prototypes or concept cars unveiled at the expo. These prototypes manage to intricately weave a web of imagination, luxury and future in one singular creation. Most manufacturers often unveil their futuristic designs to a gasping audience.

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Big label makers like Lamborghini, BMW, Mercedes and Audi to name a few are amongst the large list of those who often devote a substantial amount of time, sweat and money in developing their concept cars. Sometimes it seems that they create seemingly ‘normal’ cars just to keep themselves afloat while their true love lies within creating futuristic supercars. For laymen like myself it’s not always possible to be part of auto expos which take place round the world. Hence it here where the Delhi expo comes in handy as global models of several automobiles are also unveiled at this platform. It provides the onlookers with an opportunity to come face to face with global models which would have been showcased at other overseas expo.

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The show has a wide variety of automobiles vis-à-vis a type meant for select few with a bag full of money or something which is affordable by the masses. It has something to offer to all, something to melt the hearts of every auto enthusiast and leave them awe struck.

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The first two days of the expo is reserved for press but the latter five are open to all, which means a heavy crowd shoveling past each other, struggling, swaying from one foot to another just so as to witness a car in its full glory. From the last edition of the expo, it has been split in two parts. The one held at Pragati Maidan is for car automobile components and accessories while the one held at India Expo Mart, Greater Noida is the automobiles itself.

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The splitting of the expo owes it all the massive turn up of the overtly enthusiastic car lovers and the constant growth of this crowd. To sum it all up, the Auto expo for a car enthusiast is what Disneyland is to a child.

[NikilSJ]

Here’s the confirmed list of participants for Auto Expo 2016.
Vehicle Manufacturers
Abarth
Aprilia
Ashok Leyland
Atul Auto
Audi India
BMW India
BMW Motorrad
Datsun
Dhasan Moto
DSK Motowheels
Executive Mod Car Trendz
FCA India Automobiles
Fiat India
General Motors India
Greenback
Hero MotoCorp
Honda Cars India
Honda Motorcycles and Scooter India
Hyundai Motor India
India Yamaha Motor
Indian Motorcycles
Isuzu Motors India Private
Jaguar Land Rover
JBM Auto
Jeep
Lohia Auto Industries
Mahindra & Mahindra
Mahindra 2 Wheelers
Mahindra Truck & Bus
Maruti Suzuki India
Mercedes-Benz India
Moto Guzzi India
Motormind Automotive Designs
Nissan Motor India
Peugeot Motorcycles
Piaggio Vehicles
Polaris India
Renault India
Revolta Motors
Scania Commercial Vehicles
Segway - Bird Group
SML Isuzu
Speed Electric
Speego Vehicles
Ssangyong
Starker Sports
Suzuki Motorcycles
Tata Motors
Toyota Kirloskar Motor
Triumph Motorcycles India
TVS Motor Company
UM India Two Wheelers
VE Commercial Vehicles
Vespa
Volkswagen

Media Publications
Auto Tech Review
Auto Today
Autocar
Bus Coach India
CMYK Printech
Car Dekho
Car Wale
Comnet Publishers
Evo India
Motor India
Motown Publications
Netwrok 18 Media & Investments (Overdrive)
Next Gen Publishing
Shobika Media
TCG Media
Transport Times
World Wide Media (Topgear)
xBHP.com

Other participants
Aligarh Muslim University
Auto Trendz Impex
Automotive Skills Development Council
Brain Programmers
Central Institute of Road Transport
Droom Technology
DTU-Team Defiainz Racing
Excellon Software
Girnarsoft
Global Automotive Research Centre - NATRIP
Goodyear India
Greaves Cotton
Hindustan Petroleum Corporation
ICAT - International Centre for Automotive Technology
IIT-Bombay - Industrial Design Centre
IIT-Delhi
Incadea India
JK Tyre & Industries
Mega Telematics
MIT Institute of Design
Quirk India
SAE India
Satyam-Venture Engineering Services
Sharda University
Shriram Automall
Speedway Tyres
The Automotive Research Association of India
University of Petroleum & Energy Studies
University of Petroleum & Energy Studies
Yokohama India

[Jijo_Malayil]

Auto Expo2016 this year will see participation from 1500 companies including 900 Indian companies and 600 International ones.

The theme for this edition is ‘mobility for all’ with emphasis on electric and hybrid vehicles.

Auto Expo 16 will be the platform for 80 new launches. Eighty!

[NikilSJ]

With the Supreme Court’s decision on banning registration of diesel SUVs and cars with a capacity of 2000cc and above in Delhi NCR region set to stay for the time being, Mahindra & Mahindra is likely to launch the downsized version of the 2.2-litre mHawk diesel engine in the Scorpio and XUV500. It is expected that the power and torque figures won’t dip by much.

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The 1.9-litre mHawk Scorpio prototype is said to been approved by the ARAI (Automotive Research Association Of India) and may reach dealerships in a couple of weeks. Sources say the XUV500 with the same motor is currently undergoing certification process. The 1.9-litre nHawk equipped SUVs is likely to be sold across the country too.

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During the launch of the KUV100, M&M’s executive director Pawan Goenka had said, ”We are certainly prepared for all eventualities. We are coming up with a petrol line-up, which will be made available over a period of time. This will be our defence over something like this.”

[NikilSJ]

The supreme court has now agreed to ban the registration all diesel vehicles over 2000cc.
This would cover most of the full sized SUVs, and also many luxury cars.
This would be a major blow to the luxury car segment as well as to Toyota, Tata and Mahindra as their cars are over 2000cc and Delhi is a huge market.

Here's a report from Autocar India on how Mahindra plans on beating the ban on diesel cars. http://www.autocarindia.com/auto-new...an-399286.aspx

[Jijo_Malayil]

Regarding the odd-even number plate scheme, the Delhi government has finally reached a conclusion and it feels like a well thought decision. Only eight days are left for the odd/even countdown to begin and all seems to be on the right track. The decision to implement such a drastic rule was taken in order to reduce congestion on roads and pollution from vehicular emissions.

As per the notification issued by the government, there are about 20 categories of vehicles which are exempted from this rule. The categories which have attained a free pass from this are here forth mentioned:

• Electric and hybrid vehicles.
• All two wheelers.
• Women and women travelling with a male child up to the age of eleven.
• VVIPs except the Delhi Chief Minster.
• Emergency vehicles, ambulances, fire, hospital, prison and enforcement vehicles.
• Vehicles of paramilitary forces, Ministry of Defence, pilot and escort.
• Vehicles of SPG protectees.
• Vehicles bearing diplomatic corps registration number.
• Those on way to a hospital for medical emergency should carry proof.
• Vehicles of physically challenged.
• All CNG vehicles, but they will have to display certificate.

I believe that exempting CNG vehicles from the list is a good move as it will promote people to make a shift towards CNG. There are a number of electric vehicles available in the global markets, India only has limited option. By limited option, I mean that there is only one electric car available in India. This move will encourage people to buy electric vehicles and manufactures to get cracking on producing more of them.

Even though it has not been made clear as to which kind of hybrids are not exempted, this is a welcome move. It will push the manufactures to produce more hybrid cars. This in turn just might reduce the price of hybrids which will generate more enthusiasm amongst the public to buy them. As two wheelers are still running under BS III emission norms, I see no reason as to why two wheelers are exempted from this rule.

Now let’s turn our attention towards VVIP s now. Apart from the Prime Minster and President, I believe that all other important personnel’s vehicles should play by this rule. If the Delhi CM can manage to abide by it then so can the others. Apart from all of these, flexible office timings within NCR will also help in reducing traffic on roads & public transport systems during peak hours.

.

[Roshun]

As per the notification issued by the government, there are about 20 categories of vehicles which are exempted from this rule. The categories which have attained a free pass from this are here forth mentioned:

• Electric and hybrid vehicles.
• All two wheelers.
• Women and women travelling with a male child up to the age of eleven.
• VVIPs except the Delhi Chief Minster.
• Emergency vehicles, ambulances, fire, hospital, prison and enforcement vehicles.
• Vehicles of paramilitary forces, Ministry of Defence, pilot and escort.
• Vehicles of SPG protectees.
• Vehicles bearing diplomatic corps registration number.
• Those on way to a hospital for medical emergency should carry proof.
• Vehicles of physically challenged.
• All CNG vehicles, but they will have to display certificate.

* How do I prove that I'm on the way to a hospital for a medical emergency? Have a screaming patient in the car?
* Single women drivers are exempt - but wouldn't it have made more sense to exempt all cars that are carrying 4-5 passengers, including male passengers (full car, which means they are carpooling).
* If a woman has a male child older than 11 or if a woman wants to give two guys a lift, she can't.
* All two wheelers are exempt. So these two wheelers are BS1, BS2, BS 3. And there are still some old two strokes riding about. A BS3 two wheeler has more emissions than a BS4 car, I'm told. Don't have the exact figures.

I see this whole scheme as flawed. Don't get me wrong, I'm all for reducing pollution, but I seriously think we are approaching it the wrong way.

[Jijo_Malayil]

But I think this is just the best way to reduce pollution levels & congestion in the city on an immediate basis. For somebody like me who relies completely on public means of transport, it is getting really difficult to survive in the city anymore. Few flaws have to be sorted out along the way, like what you have mentioned. But it is definitely worth a try! That said, long term plans should be subsequently conceptualized and implemented.