NGT Ban May Cause Delhi to Lose Half of its Ambulances

The NGT order would require all diesel vehicles which are over a decade old to go off the road. (Photo: Reuters)

The National Green Tribunal’s order, first passed in April 2015 and reiterated now, would revoke registration of all diesel vehicles older than 10 years. This would lead to about 2.8 lakh vehicles going off the road in Delhi once the order gets implemented by the Delhi government.

However, the revocation process would start with vehicles that are over 15 years old, and would be spread over a period of phased de-registration.

Car owners like Mohan Lal, are definitely not happy with this decision. Lal recently bought a 9-year-old car which he would be able to use for only one more year. He said:

I can send my car to my home state by getting a No Objection Certificate and then re-registering it, but not everyone will be able to do it.

Additionally, the order is not simply confined to passenger vehicles. The capital’s health services transport is set to suffer a serious setback as half of its ambulances would have to be taken off the road.

Delhi has a total of 1,600 registered ambulances, running both on diesel and petrol, according to the Delhi Transport Ministry. Of the total, 813 are over 15 years old. Once the order is implemented 50 percent of these vehicles would have to be taken off the road. The government is yet to announce its plans to compensate for the loss of these ambulances.

Find the complete report on the NGT order and how it would affect Delhi on BloombergQuint.