1. What does the Supreme Court order say?

• Only 250 diesel cars and 1250 petrol cars per month can be sold in Delhi till all vehicles meet Euro II norms in April 2000
• From June 1, 1999, only cars meeting Euro I norms can be sold in Delhi but these would still be sold according to the quota. The implementation of Euro I has been advanced from April 1, 2000 to June 1, 1999.
• By April 2000, all cars to be sold in Delhi will have to meet Euro II norms. The implementation of Euro II norms has been advanced from April 1, 2005, that is by 5 years.

2. Why this order?

The Supreme Court has been considering a ban on diesel cars in Delhi to cut toxic particulate emissions following a submission from the Environment Protection (Prevention and Control) Authority. On April 1, 1999, the Authority had submitted a report, entitled, Restriction on the Plying of Diesel Driven (Private) Vehicles in the NCR. The Authority has stated that "It would appear logical to firmly and immediately discourage the trend to dieselise private vehicles, and to encourage this category also to resort to use of CNG/clean fuel." It went on to say, "sooner the ban is imposed, the earlier the industry will be alerted to stop further investment into this city for this purpose." After examining various options, the report concluded, "The Authority is of the view, that in the interim, it is necessary to resort to the last option, that of extending the ban on the registration and re-registration of light diesel vehicles in Delhi from commercial to private vehicles, and with immediate effect, so that there is no addition to the existing stock of diesel vehicles."

The Authority has taken this view on the basis of the scientific evidences presented to it on the proven carcinogenic effect of the diesel particulate matter.

• It should be noted that Diesel particulate matter has been found to be carcinogenic by Air Resources Board of California, WHO, and the Ministry of Occupational Health in Germany. The California Air resources Board has formally designated the diesel particulate as the Toxic Air Contaminant" which means that it can cause cancer and should be controlled.
• The level of respirable small particulate matter (RSPM) is already very high in Delhi and this is frightening in light of the disturbing information from WHO that the levels of particulate even below the standards is harmful.

On April 16, the Supreme Court considered this report and said in its order, "It is estimated that more that 90% of the Nitrogen Oxide (NOx) and respirable particulate matter (RSPM) from vehicular exhaust over Delhi is due to diesel emission." The court went on to direct "taking note of effects of diesel exhaust on the health of the citizens which are of extremely serious nature, we direct the Additional Solicitor General to inform about the number of diesel and petrol private vehicles registered in N.C.R. (National Capital Region) in 1997 and 1998."

• The various applications from automobile companies be referred to the EPCA for a final decision on the ban of diesel cars;
• In the interim, the court take a decision to restrict the number of diesel cars that can be registered in Delhi. He suggested that the number of diesel cars that can be registered should be frozen at the current rate of registration given by the Delhi administration to the court, 2669 in 1998, or roughly 250 per month.

The TELCO counsel F M Nariman, responding to this suggestion, demanded stringent measures for both diesel and petrol. He accepted that diesel was an environmental problem but wanted that all cars – diesel and petrol – should be subjected to the same norm.

On this plea, the bench widened the net to include both petrol and diesel cars for enforcement of more stringent emission standards in advance. And also included a petrol car quota for registration in Delhi. This was fixed at 1250 per month, against the 4000 vehicles sold per month in 1998 according to Delhi Administration figures.

3. Implication of the Court ruling for the air quality in Delhi and our response:

• For the first time the notion of controlling the number of polluting vehicles to reduce pollution has been legally established by setting a quota for number of vehicles that can be registered any month in the city.
• Though the Supreme Court has been hearing the possibility of getting only diesel cars banned in Delhi, the Court has widened the net to include both diesel and petrol vehicles for compliance with more stringent emission norms. This is a very important step to control air pollution in the city.
• Most importantly, the court has advanced the dates of enforcement of stricter emission norms. This will push the industry to improve its technology and produce cleaner vehicles and will therefore, mean that we will get less polluting cars immediately on our roads.

• For the first time the auto companies will compete with each other on the basis of the emission levels of their product.
• It must be noted that Euro I norms – that were to be introduced in India in April 2000 and that have been now advanced by the court through this judgement -- were enforced in Europe in 1992.
• And the Euro II norms – that were to be introduced in India in April 2005 and that have been advanced by the court to April 2000 (by five years) -- were enforced in Europe in 1996.
• As the Court correctly pointed out these norms have already been achieved in the Western world and therefore, can and should be, enforced as soon as possible in a polluted city like Delhi.
• In view of the high rate of increase of cars in Delhi the move to control the total number of registrations will mean less cars on the road, and more importantly, these cars will meet stricter emission standards.
• Without this order which limits the total number of cars on the roads and also insists that the cars that are registered meet better emission norms, Delhi would have added a large number of cars which would not even have met European emission standards of 1996. Using the annual growth rates of the past years to project future car population, CSE estimates that the city would have a car population of 24 lakhs at 2009-10 – that is over three times the number of cars registered on March 31, 1998.
• The diesel car population would have also boomed. Already almost all car manufacturer, taking advantage of the price differential between petrol and diesel, were launching diesel version of their vehicles. The Court order will restrict the number of diesel cars that can be registered – to just 250 each month or 3000 annually.

CSE demands proper enforcement and monitoring of the Supreme Court decision: Proper enforcement of this order will have to be ensured by the Delhi government to avoid corruption and evasion of the order.

The state government should ask the companies to make the actual emission levels public since the sales now depend on the levels of emission standards (Euro I and Euro II) they have complied with.

CSE is encouraged with the Supreme Court decision as it has taken a definite step forward to control dieselisation and control overall vehicular emissions for which CSE has been campaigning for long.

Table: EURO I and EURO II norms for both petrol and diesel cars following the Supreme court order of April 29, 1999 

Source:

*Anon, 1998, Central Motor Vehicle rules, 1989, Ministry for Surface Transport. Government of India, New Delhi

** CONCAWE, Report No: 6/97

 For further information and for detailed documentation air pollution and diesel emissions please contact, Anumita RoyChowdhury, Coordinator CSE’s Clean Air Campaign.
Phone: Tel: +91 (011)-29955124, 29955125,   Email: anumita@cseindia.org