SIAM calls for sustainable solution to reduce pollution

Disappointed with Supreme Court’s verdict on the ban of diesel SUVs and cars with engines over 2000cc in Delhi and NCR till March 31, 2016, industry body Society of Indian Automotive Manufacturers (SIAM), has appealed for implementing effective and sustainable solutions to reduce pollution in the region rather than implementing selective bans.

The industry body said: “The pollution issue in Delhi needs to be looked at holistically if the objective of improving the air quality is to be achieved. In light of this, the Honorable 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, the auto Industry welcomes the court’s direction for controlling pollution from other sources which has been neglected for last couple of decades.”

Also read: Hit by SC diesel car ban, carmakers in India see an uncertain future

The statement by SIAM also claimed that the SC order ignored all findings the recent study by IIT Kanpur on the pollution levels in Delhi.

“According to the study, 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 BSIV compliant vehicles will further delay the proportion of BSIV vehicles on the road, while older BS 1/2/3 vehicles would continue to ply. If reduction of pollution was the objective, the honourable court could have encouraged more BSIV 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 industry body’s statement read.

Voicing its concerns over the unavailability of a comprehensive action plan for addressing the issue of air pollution in Delhi, SIAM added:

“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 a handful 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 BSIV 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.”

The industry body also pointed out to the 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 suggests the following measures if pollution has to be effectively addressed:

Read more: 

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