Delhi smog menace: Firecrackers banned except for religious festivals; old diesel vehicles to be de-registered

The Delhi government on Monday started a process of deregistering 15-year-old diesel vehicles in the city and also imposed a ban on use of fire crackers except for religious functions, following directions from Lt Governor Najeeb Jung to bring down air pollution.

Jung on Monday chaired a high-level meeting attended by Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, his deputy Manish Sisodia, Environment Minister Imran Hussain and representatives from other agencies.

A senior official at the LG office said decisions taken on Monday will be reviewed in the next meeting on November 15.

Apart from that, ban on construction and demolition activities will continue till November 14 and overloaded trucks and such non-destined will not allowed in the national capital.

The LG has also issued strict action against polluting industries running in Delhi particularly in non-conforming areas and directed MCD and Delhi Police to jointly launch operations to shut down all such industries.

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Due to deregistration of 15-year-old diesel vehicles, about 2 lakh such vehicles will go off the capital’s roads.

The move comes a day after Kejriwal announced closure of all schools till Wednesday, ban on construction and demolition activities for next five days and temporary closure of Badarpur Power Plant.

In its July order, National Green Tribunal (NGT) had directed Delhi government to de-register diesel vehicles older than 10 years. Later, the NGT had directed the city administration to deregister 15 years old diesel vehicles in first phase.

Monday’s meeting was intended to discuss the serious condition of air pollution in city and directed all agencies concerned to ensure immediate measures required to mitigate air pollution in Delhi are strictly implemented.

“Deregistration of 15-year-old diesel vehicles started from today. Directions have been issued to all registering authorities/MLOs to start deregistration of diesel vehicles which are more than 15 years old in a phased manner.

“This will bring about a reduction of 2 lakh diesel vehicles on the roads in Delhi,” LG office said in a statement.

Ban has also been imposed on fire crackers in the national capital in marriages and other events, except for religious functions.

“Strict enforcement of ban on construction/demolition activities will be in place from November 7 to 14. Municipal authorities and Delhi Police will ensure its strict implementation and prosecute violators,” the statement said.

Jung said that all authorities concerned must come together on a war footing while assigning responsibilities to various agencies for strict implementation of decisions.
MCD has been asked to take all measures to control fire in landfill sites, particularly Bhalaswa. They will be doing so by using PWD construction and demolition malba and sludge generated by water treatment plants of DJB.

Delhi Transport Department and police have been directed not to allow entry of overloaded trucks and non-destined trucks in the city entering from Rajasthan, UP, Haryana etc with immediate effect.