To tackle air pollution, Supreme Court bans diesel cabs in Delhi NCR from May 1

The Supreme Court has banned plying of diesel cabs in the Delhi National Capital Region from May 1. It has refused to extend the deadline for phasing out diesel cabs in the National Capital Region (NCR), saying that it has allowed enough extensions in the past, reported Zee News. Earlier the Supreme Court had imposed a ban on plying diesel cabs in Delhi from April 1, but later extended the deadline by a month for private cab aggregators to switch to CNG vehicles. The deadline for phasing out diesel has ended today.

The Court said that all radio, app-based cabs must switch to LNG by May 1. It also asked Delhi Police to pay 30% environmental compensation charge to buy special diesel vehicles over 200 cc, however, gave Delhi Jal Board exemption from environment cess on its water tankers. Reportedly, cabs plying with an India permit will be exempted from the order to convert to LNG.

In an NDTV report, the Supreme Court was to hear the petitions on pollution issues including the plea of automobile giants like Mercedes, Toyota, Mahindra and General Motors over the ban on diesel cars with engine capacity of 2000 CC and above in NCR, despite a request by Centre to defer it. The interim order banning registration of diesel-run vehicles with engine capacity of 2000 CC and above is in force till today.

After hearing the petition, the Supreme Court has extended the stay on registration of diesel vehicles above 2000 cc capacity in the Delhi-NCR region until further orders. The court was hearing various petitions related to its earlier rulings on controlling the problem of pollution in the city. The court also slammed the government for not being serious about the issue of pollution, reported The Indian Express.

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