Lakhs of commercial vehicles have given Delhi a miss since an environment compensation charge (ECC) was imposed by the Supreme Court in October last year, cutting the daily traffic by half.
The commercial vehicles that pay toll tax at 124 border points in Delhi were asked to deposit another Rs.700 or Rs. 1,300, depending on the size, as ‘green tax’ to compensate for the air pollution they cause.
Since the ECC started being collected on November 6, 2015, over four lakh commercial vehicles have been diverted to Haryana and UP, meaning that they were not destined for Delhi.
The Supreme Court-appointed Environment Pollution Control Authority submitted a compliance report to the court on Thursday. As per the report, Haryana had set up 13 check-posts where about 6,300 diverted vehicles went through between January 21 and March 28.
“A total of 4,29,095 vehicles have been diverted in this period, as they were not destined for Delhi,” said the report.
In Uttar Pradesh, there have been fewer diverted vehicles, with 2,831 vehicles from January 25 to March 28.
The EPCA found that on average 8,000 vehicles pay ECC daily, but the number had reduced by 60-80 per cent since October.
“But this estimate does not include the number of vehicles that are entering Delhi but are exempt from paying ECC. Therefore, the decrease in number, in EPCA’s estimation would be roughly 50-60 per cent,” said the report.
EPCA member and the director-general of the Centre for Science and Environment Sunita Narain said that the compliance with the ECC and other pollution-control orders of the Supreme Court had been good.
She added that the impact on air quality would be judged when data from nine border crossings where CCTV cameras have been installed is studied.
As per the EPCA report, there is a “visible impact” of the ECC on the air quality of the Capital.
However, it cautioned that pollution is still not under control and that further steps need to be taken.
Commercial vehicles were diverted to Haryana or UP as they were not destined for Delhi
