New Delhi has implemented stringent driving bans to restrict the number of cars on the road as it tries to clean up the world's most polluted air. The air quality in New Delhi and surrounding areas remained "severe" for the six straight day today.
Delhi has been topping the chart of the world's most polluted cities for the last several days with the air quality index hitting hazardous levels. The Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) brought into effect Stage 4 of its Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), aimed at improving air quality.
Here is the full list of restrictions on vehicles:
- Entry of all petrol and diesel trucks, except those carrying essential commodities, into Delhi is banned. CNG and electric trucks will be allowed to enter Delhi.
- Driving 10-year-old diesel and 15-year-old petrol vehicles is completely banned.
- BS3 Petrol, BS3 and BS4 Diesel cars registered outside Delhi have been banned. Bharat Stage (BS) emission standards set legal limits on the amount of air pollutants, such as carbon monoxide and particulate matter, that vehicles in India can emit. These standards focus on improving emission control, fuel efficiency, and engine design.
- Petrol cars complying with BS4 and BS6 emission norms can still ply on Delhi roads.
- BS6 diesel cars will be allowed to run in Delhi-NCR.
Delhi, home to 30 million people, is blanketed in toxic smog at the onset of winter every year, primarily blamed on stubble burning by farmers in the neighbouring agrarian states.
Levels of the most dangerous PM2.5 particles -- so tiny they can enter the bloodstream -- reached 184 micrograms per cubic metre on Monday according to IQAir, 12 times the daily maximum recommended by the World Health Organization.
Delhi Environment Minister Manjinder Sirsa has accused Arvind Kejriwal's AAP - in power before the BJP won the February election - of allowing more than 1.08 lakh vehicles to run on city roads despite each emitting high levels of carbon monoxide.
An integrated command and control centre has been proposed in the 2025-26 Delhi budget, presented by Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Tuesday, for real-time monitoring of air quality, water pollution, noise levels, and waste management.
As part of broader strategy to tackle the expected winter pollution peak, the Delhi government will install six new air quality monitoring stations across the national capital over the next three months, Environment Minister said.
Delhi remained India's most polluted megacity by a wide margin during the 2024-25 winter, with an average PM2.5 concentration of 175 micrograms per cubic metre, according to an analysis released on Tuesday.
A small city on the Meghalaya-Assam border, nearly 2,000 kilometres away from Delhi, is the most polluted in the world, according to a report published by a global pollution watchdog.
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