New Delhi: From Thursday, December 18,  privately owned vehicles registered outside Delhi and compliant with emission standards lower than Bharat Stage VI will not be allowed to enter the capital, the Delhi government announced on Tuesday. Vehicles violating the order will be seized, Environment Minister Manjinder Singh Sirsa said.

“There is only tomorrow [in between]; from the day after, no non-Delhi-registered vehicle that complies with emissions standards lower than BS VI will enter Delhi, and if any such vehicle is found in Delhi, it will be seized,” Sirsa said.

In a parallel measure aimed at tightening pollution checks, the minister said vehicles without a valid pollution under control certificate will not be sold fuel at petrol pumps in the city starting Thursday.

The decision follows three consecutive days of ‘severe’ air quality in Delhi, including Sunday, which marked the second worst air day on record. On Tuesday, air quality showed marginal improvement, slipping into the ‘very poor’ category. The city’s average air quality index stood at 354, compared with 427, 461 and 431 over the previous three days.

Sirsa clarified that the fresh restriction applies only to private vehicles. The ban on non-BS VI commercial vehicles, including trucks and buses registered outside Delhi, is already in force.

The move comes amid the implementation of stage IV of the Graded Response Action Plan across the national capital region from Sunday. The measures under this stage include some of the strictest controls, such as the suspension of physical classes in schools.

Concerns over vehicular pollution were also flagged at a high-level meeting at the Prime Minister’s Office last month, which noted that 37 per cent of vehicles in the Delhi-NCR region fall under older Bharat Stage I, II and III emission norms. These vehicles are considered among the biggest contributors to toxic air in the region.

Acknowledging the scale of the challenge, Sirsa said the government was struggling to bring down pollution levels consistently. “As I had said earlier, we are struggling to improve the average AQI in Delhi every month. I apologise to the people of Delhi. I want to say that it is impossible for any government to completely eliminate pollution in 9-10 months,” he said, while blaming previous administrations for the current situation.

Officials said the slight improvement in air quality on Tuesday was aided by strong winds that helped disperse pollutants, according to the India Meteorological Department.

BI Bureau