Govt. to seek clarity on overage vehicles with fitness certificates
The decision follows criticism from residents, particularly owners of vehicles deemed overage but issued Pollution Under Control certificates after clearing fitness checks. According to the National Green Tribunal, overage vehicles are defined as petrol vehicles older than 15 years and diesel vehicles older than 10 years. On Tuesday, fuel stations in the Capital denied fuel to overage vehicles.
Mr. Sirsa said the government aims to present all relevant facts before the CAQM. 'We will present all facts before the CAQM — what steps we have taken, how enforcement is being implemented, and how we are cleaning the air,' he said at a press meet.
Barbs exchanged
The Minister accused the previous Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government of failing to take adequate measures to curb pollution in Delhi. 'It is unfair that the people of Delhi are today being forced to pay the price for the failures of the AAP government, when they deserve to be treated on a par with those in any other State,' he said.
However, Leader of the Opposition Atishi alleged that the BJP government has a vested interest of benefiting car manufacturing companies.
'Around 6.2 million vehicles will be removed from the roads so that people are forced to buy new vehicles and fill the companies' purses,' she said, also demanding that the BJP 'reveal how much donations it received from these companies'.
The implementation of the Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) system at fuel stations came after multiple orders issued by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) since 2014 and a subsequent Supreme Court ruling in 2018.
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