On Thursday, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) refused to vacate its order on diesel vehicle registration saying that it will not interfere with the Apex court’s order.
The order of Supreme Court therefore, remains in place that from January 1, 2016, diesel vehicles with engine capacity of 2000 cc will not be registered across the National Capital Region (NCR) till March 31, 2016.
Besides this, other significant measures include the creation of alternate routes for trucks coming to Delhi from NH1 and NH8 and banning the entry of trucks which are more than ten-years-old.
All these measures, however, are yet to be put in place with the pollution level of Delhi still at a dangerous level, causing severe health hazard to its citizens.
In many places of the Capital, based on the data of Delhi Pollution Control Committee, the particulate matters of 2.5 microns has exceeded to the level of 350-400 micrograms per cubic meter while the safe limit is supposed to be 60 micrograms per cubic meter.
Equally bad for health are particulate matters of 10 microns where many regions in Delhi have air quality between 350- 400 micrograms per cubic meter whereas the safe limit is 100 micrograms per cubic meter.
Pulmonologists have explained that the constant coughing, reddening of eyes, sneezing during this time may not be because of flu but because of high levels PM10. “40 per cent of young children in Delhi suffer from weak lung activities where the lungs cannot function to its full capacity,” said Dr Vivek Nagia, Director Pulmonology of a private hospital in Vasant Kunj.
In a related news, Beijing has issued its second red notice which is the strictest measure in curbing dangerous quality of air pollution prevalent in city over PM 2.5 levels, crossing 300 micrograms per cubic meter. The earlier red notice was issued from December 7- 10.
The measures taken by authorities in Beijing includes advicing the citizens to stay at home, reducing the vehicular traffic on roads, closing power plants located in the nearby areas and imposing stricter guidelines to curb pollution levels at construction sites.
While Beijing has banned the use of diesel vehicles since 2003, there is still a debate on banning of diesel vehicles in Delhi.