50,000 diesel cars in NCR hit a dead end

The National Green Tribunal’s order reiterating its ban on diesel vehicles that are 10 years old or more and asking RTOs to deregister them will see nearly 50,000 vehicles go off roads in the NCR cities.
Of these, Gurgaon alone has nearly 30,000 diesel-powered vehicles, mostly commercial cabs that have not come to a dead end. In Delhi’s immediate neighbours in Uttar Pradesh — Noida and Ghaziabad — another 21,000 vehicles will lose their licence to ply on the roads.
Jitender Kumar, secretary of the regional transport authority, Gurgaon, said since last year, the department had already stopped issuing fitness certificates to diesel vehicles older than 10 years and consequently, the number of such vehicles on the roads has come down.
Senior RTA officials in these cities said they would prepare a list of the diesel vehicles ineligible to play and hand it over to traffic police. They will also conduct their own inspections and impound the ones found violating NGT orders.
In case a Delhi-registered vehicle is caught violating the ban in any of the NCR cities, the respective RTA will forward the case to Delhi, officials said.
Owners of old diesel vehicles, meanwhile, are in a fix, wondering why the court did not consider a notice period before asking RTAs to de-register vehicles. Vishal Dubey, an investment worker who travels from Delhi to Gurgaon for work every day, said the government must introduce a replacement offer for older diesel cars.
Transporters in Noida said they will meet the Delhi transport minister to find a solution. Vedpal Singh, president of the Noida transport association, said the order is likely to affect around 60% commercial vehicles in the city. “It is going to hit our business badly. If diesel vehicles from Noida and Ghaziabad don’t ply in the capital, the supply of essential items will be affected” said Singh.