New Delhi is in the throes of a fight against old, carbon-belching vehicles that are causing millions of premature deaths.
In early July, New Delhi officials attempted to put an abrupt end to the refuelling of cars that don't meet emissions requirements. "The restriction applies to diesel vehicles over 10 years old and petrol vehicles over 15 years old," The Times of India reported.
This ban affected an estimated 6 million cars on the streets of New Delhi. Lawmakers tried to curb the megacity's dangerous and toxic air pollution by hiring police to monitor gas stations. "We have been instructed to call in scrap car dealers if such vehicles come in," a traffic policeman posted at a fueling station in the city said.
Officials also installed number plate-recognizing cameras and loudspeakers at fueling stations, which, unfortunately, began malfunctioning and creating chaos in the city. "Delhi's environment minister, Manjinder Singh Sirsa, told reporters the fuel ban was not feasible because of 'crucial issues related to technological glitches,'" Phys.org reported.
City officials have gone back to the drawing board to troubleshoot how to enforce the temporarily lifted ban, which will be re-enacted in November 2025.
This ban isn't news for the drivers of New Delhi. According to Phys.org, "[older cars] were already banned from operating on New Delhi's roads by a 2018 Supreme Court ruling." However, this ban was theoretical at best and ineffectual because it was not enforced.
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City officials will resume the fueling ban across all six districts of New Delhi, citing that the disorganization of the first rollout led to its downfall. "Unless there is a robust system and the ban is everywhere, it will not work," Sirsa said.
November cannot come soon enough, as studies have shown that just in 2019, air pollution in India was responsible for 1.67 million premature deaths. Which, according to a study done by Boston College, accounts for "the largest pollution-related death toll in any country in the world — and also accounted for $36.8 billion in economic losses."
Although this ban on older vehicles disproportionately affects citizens in lower economic classes who cannot afford newer vehicles, dangerous levels of pollution do as well. Wealthier citizens might not only have access to better healthcare, but they may also live outside the smog-filled city center. This kind of act is challenging to adapt to, but in the end, it works to protect the health and future economic prospects of the most vulnerable.
"One of our challenges is to provide the poor with greater access to devices and clean fuels that can be sustainably used in a variety of real-world conditions," School of Social Work Dean Yadama said. "The more these are developed and tested in collaboration with communities — particularly the women, the devices' end users — the more likely their uptake."
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