Why are Delhiites forced to pay with their health for truckers to use the city as a transit route? The CSE survey found that it is economical for truckers.
“It is cheaper to travel through Delhi than to take alternative roads. The road that cuts through the Capital has a lower charge that is based on rates decided by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi,” said the study.
For instance, NH-71 and NH-71A are toll roads that connect Rewari via Jhajjar and Rohtak with Panipat. This means commercial traffic, which is travelling from north India to west via Jaipur and then to south India, could take this route.
It would not need to travel through Delhi. But the toll for the three-axle trucks on this road is Rs. 1,420. If the truck travels through Delhi, it is required to pay the MCD toll, which is Rs. 450.
The length of the trip is not much different – while travelling via NH-71 and NH-71A is 172 km, travelling through Delhi is marginally shorter at 163 km.
It is also clear that travelling to the east of India – from north to east via Agra - there are fewer ready highways that can obviate the need to traverse through Delhi.
“Travel through Delhi needs to be charged so that there is a clear disincentive for the use of these roads, the cost of pollution is paid, and there is an incentive for viable options to be built,” said Anumita Roychowdhury, CSE’s executive director and head of its air pollution control campaign.
“Imposing this charge will reduce the traffic that has options not to travel through Delhi immediately. It will also create conditions for traffic that is not destined for the city, to look for alternative routes,” she said.
The survey says it has come to light that while there are some viable options available to bypass commercial traffic, these roads are not favoured by transporters. There are alternative highways that exist on the western side of the city to transport goods between north India and west and south India.
This is the most important commercial traffic route. But trucks prefer to pass through Delhi and not take these alternative highways in spite of the fact that there is no apparent and real difference in length.
CSE recommends a number of urgent steps before winter, which includes implementation of a pollution compensatory charge on all light and heavy-duty trucks entering Delhi as an additional charge to the MCD toll.
“There is a need to implement radio-frequency identification on trucks. This will help identify non-destined trucks with greater precision and make management easier. There is a need to introduce Bharat Stage IV emission standards nationwide by April 2016. Emission levels from trucks cannot be lowered effectively if trucks continue to run on outdated technology and highly-polluting fuel,’’ said Ms. Roychowdhury.
