[shankar.balan]

Originally Posted by fhdowntheline

…agricultural output has also increased …..burning more stubble than before. Also the amount of concrete dust, brick kiln, quarry dust, due construction in and around NCR would be enormously high.

Thank you. This is an excellent point. Perpetual dust.
In India there is anyway a great deal of dust that coats every possible surface. This is further increased because of the perpetual relentless blitz of construction that we have been undergoing over the last 25 years and will probably be seeing for the next 25 years. This encompasses both public infrastructure as well as private homes and commercial buildings as well. The metronomic din of borewells being sunk, trucks grinding along bearing sand and bricks, the incessant churn of concrete mixers, water tankers and tractors trudging up and down and the all pervasive powder dust everywhere. Since the road verges arent flush, like they are abroad, the dust continues to fly all the time. In a way its a blessing in disguise that we’ve been wearing masks all the time these last 2.5 years.

[MT_Hyderabad]

We need some strong people's body which can defend commuters rights, legally. Govt. just can't push such decisions down our throat.
Someone who got 10 year registration for a diesel vehicle in 2020 should drive till 2030. Period!

[headbanger]

Originally Posted by attinder

In 'stubble burning' season , Pollution in rural punjab and cities is nowhere near bad as Delhi.

I am sure it contributes to Delhi pollution but don't understand why so much blame is put on the practice.

Edit: Not very long ago almost everyone in rural India was using 'Chulha' all year long. Millions of little fires. Things were fine.

Purely from living in NCR and seeing around, stubble burning is a major cause of pollution. Can't say whether that smoke comes from Punjab or Rajasthan or any other state, but if you happen to drive on KMP expressway thru AH44 (erstwhile NH1) during winters with all that fire in farms, it's a no brainer.

Having said that, the solution for this problem lies with government and not with farmers. There has to be a policy which solves this problem without putting extra pressure on farmers and I am quite sure there are ways to handle this.

[Shreyans_Jain]

Originally Posted by headbanger

Purely from living in NCR and seeing around, stubble burning is a major cause of pollution.

Originally Posted by attinder

In 'stubble burning' season , Pollution in rural punjab and cities is nowhere near bad as Delhi.

If you drive down from Amritsar to Delhi by road during pollution season, you will find that the air in Amritsar or Jalandhar is nowhere as bad as Delhi.

As you drive you will see miles on miles of fires. Millions of acres lit in both Punjab and Haryana, to clear off rice stubble quickly so that wheat can be planted. You will see the air quality progressively worsen as your journey continues.

It is a combination of geography and winds that make it horrible in Delhi NCR. The Himalayas act as a wall on one side, and the winds during the burning season blow southeast, blowing all the smoke towards the capital. Weather is such that these winds die around after Diwali, leaving all that smoke behind with no way for it to disperse in the cold. Add to it the insane amount of dust generated by the massive construction going on all around Delhi NCR, and it is the perfect storm.

Air quality remains unbearable till a fresh bout of western disturbances comes and blow the pollution away, and wash the air a bit with winter rain. Again, they blows it over the Gangetic plain. AQI all over UP-Bihar is every bit as bad as Delhi all winter long. Places like Meerut, Agra, Kanpur, Lucknow, Allahabad, Patna. It’s just that they didn’t get anywhere near the attention of the capital.

[Arun yadav]

Am I alone in my belief that the government(irrespective of party lines) just LOVES to pickpocket the middle class under various garbs?

Some pointers for the statement-> All below translate to an inescapable drain for a typical 'working for his worth', honest, taxpaying salaried middle class man looking to add some 'comfort' in his and loved ones lives.

Some old 'banes' and 'recently introduced' gifts vis-à-vis other classes
- Income tax deducted at source
- Graded GST deduction for 'packaged' staple foods and other 'so called premium' stuff across the spectrum
- Heavily discussed topic of the real price to buy, own, run and maintain a car and the dreaded recurring Delhi car owner 'Damocles sword'
- Tangible / Intangible costs towards 'situations & sins' of poor & rich
- Unrepresented and mute on-demand revenue cow for the taxman without risk of backlash
- Lopsided burden for directive social, environmental and political reforms

Can think of a lot more, but rest my case here.

[ganeshk4]

What processes are followed to ascertain that they need to ban diesel vehicles (that too BS4 ones)? What percentage share does diesel vehicles have in total pollution around Delhi NCR? Common people who bought these vehicle 3-4 years ago by their hard earned money should just sell them away at throw away prices. What studies are done to ban diesel vehicles? Who will be responsible if pollution does not go down event after banning diesels? Can someone guarantee that they wont ban bs6 2 years later? Why nobody is concerned about other pollution causing factors.

There are too may questions around this decision that I smell something fishy, and common car owners are made scape goats for govt's inability to control pollution.

[for_cars1]

Originally Posted by Arun yadav

Am I alone in my belief that the government(irrespective of party lines) just LOVES to pickpocket the middle class under various garbs?

.

All political parties know that majority of the salaried/ educated class are lazy to participate in the election and don't vote. So they are ignored as they have no voice.

High time, every person in the salaried class realized that they need to cast their vote in each and every election to reduce the exploitation. Only then policies will come in their favour.

[achyutaghosh]

AQI will exceed 450 for atleast 2 months this year so plenty of time to see the chaos unfold. But how on earth is NCR even going to implement this new proposal? All diesel cars get the same orange stickers. BS4 does not get anything different to be identified. Logistically speaking, this may be an impossible task.

[ajayc123]

Sad state of pollution levels in Delhi. Projected many more bad days ahead. Snapshop, about an hour back.

[TusharK]

Delhi bans BS3/BS4 diesel vehicles as air quality plummets

The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) has banned diesel vehicles from plying in Delhi-NCR as air pollution levels rose to the “severe plus” category.



The move is part of the Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), which enables the government to take strict actions to curb pollution. Currently, the ban applies to BS3 and BS4-compliant diesel vehicles only.

However, emergency service vehicles or those running on CNG have been exempt from the ban. Entry of trucks, except those carrying essential goods or those running on CNG / electricity, has been banned.

The government has ordered industries in the region that are not running on clean fuel to stop their operations. Construction of public projects has also been halted.

The 24-hour average Air Quality Index (AQI) in Delhi was 458 on Thursday morning.

Link to Team-BHP News

[SShandilya]

What does it mean ?
I have a BS 4 diesel Liva registered in Haryana but right now in delhi, can I drive it ?
Similarly, a BS 4 diesel Innova registered in Delhi itself, can I drive it ?

[superbad]

Originally Posted by SShandilya

What does it mean ?
I have a BS 4 diesel Liva registered in Haryana but right now in delhi, can I drive it ?
Similarly, a BS 4 diesel Innova registered in Delhi itself, can I drive it ?

No to both. As per this news article, irrespective of the place of registration of a BS3/4 diesel vehicle, it cannot run in Delhi until further orders.

[Shreyans_Jain]

Originally Posted by SShandilya

What does it mean ?
I have a BS 4 diesel Liva registered in Haryana but right now in delhi, can I drive it ?
Similarly, a BS 4 diesel Innova registered in Delhi itself, can I drive it ?

Technically, you can’t right now.

It’s a huge issue, how can they possibly implement this for private cars? There is no visual distinction between a BS4 and BS6 diesel car. My own Compass 2020 model is BS4 diesel. Petrol, BS4 diesel and BS6 diesel all look the same externally! How do you distinguish a BS4 Fortuner from a BS6 Fortuner? They can’t realistically flag down every car and check the RC to identify.

All in all, expect extra congestion on account of a few check posts they will set up for this.

At the end of the day, it’s a brainless rule to target a politically convenient section of society while skirting the root causes away.

[shyampsunder]

Originally Posted by Shreyans_Jain

It’s a huge issue, how can they possibly implement this for private cars? There is no visual distinction between a BS4 and BS6 diesel car. My own Compass 2020 model is BS4 diesel. Petrol, BS4 diesel and BS6 diesel all look the same externally! How do you distinguish a BS4 Fortuner from a BS6 Fortuner? They can’t realistically flag down every car and check the RC to identify.

All in all, expect extra congestion on account of a few check posts they will set up for this.

At the end of the day, it’s a brainless rule to target a politically convenient section of society while skirting the root causes away.

The Vahan database has this information. All the cops need is your vehicle number plate number to check if it is BS4 or BS6. In reality, I don't think such "minor" implementation-level details are even considered by the powers. It will be up to the lowly traffic constable to figure this out.

And yes, this will make not make much difference to AQI. The Smoke seems to have blinded the govt from finding out where the fire is originating from.

[Sk8r]

How is this even legal ? You have paid tax and got validity printed in the RC right ?