Delhi urges air quality panel to halt fuel ban on old vehicles, cites operational hurdles

The Delhi government on Thursday urged the Commission for Air Quality Management to suspend its order banning the supply of fuel to old vehicles in the national capital, citing several operational and infrastructural challenges, ANI reported.

In a letter to the air quality panel, Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said that the “immediate implementation” of the ban may “be premature and potentially counterproductive”.

The ban, which came into effect on Tuesday, was enforced to phase out end-of-life vehicles to tackle air pollution. Under the directive, petrol vehicles over 15 years old and diesel vehicles over 10 years old would no longer be allowed to refuel.

To enforce the ban, automatic number plate recognition cameras were installed at nearly 350 petrol pumps across the national capital to detect such vehicles, The Hindu reported.

On Thursday, Sirsa told the Commission for Air Quality Management that the system was not working properly at several locations, The Indian Express reported.

“There are several technical glitches in the system, which include wrong placement of cameras, faulty sensors, non-functional speakers and improper sound output,” the newspaper quoted the letter as saying.

The minister added that the automatic number plate recognition system needed more testing and correction before it could be implemented.

He urged the air quality panel to put the ban on hold till the system was “seamlessly...

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