Ban of diesel taxis not enough to tackle air pollution in Delhi

A day after the Odd Even rule came to an end and the ban on diesel-run cabs came into effect in Delhi, environmental activist Sunita Narain said that these measures were not enough to tackle the problem of air pollution in the national capital.

On the ban on diesel run taxis, Narain said that the Supreme Court, in 2000, had banned the diesel taxis and had said it its order that only CNG taxis will operate in Delhi.

"Now all the court has done is to reiterate its order and has extended it to NCR as there is CNG available there now. 70 stations have been set up both in Delhi and NCR.

"The problem is that there has been a loophole which is been exploited over the last 15 years by diesel taxi owners who have registered their taxis under the All India Tourist Permit (AITP).

"Now the AITP is only allowed for taxis which are registered with Tourism Department and used for Tourism and that we accept will require travel outside the NCR region as well. But there is total misuse of that. AITP vehicles were being misused to provide taxi services within the NCR when they are disallowed them from undertaking point-to-point travel," Narain said on the sidelines of an event.

As far as the Odd even scheme was concerned, Narain said that it is an emergency step, and cannot be a long term solution to check pollution.

She recommended permanent measures like augmenting public transport system to deal with the problem.

"If odd even has to come back again and again, people will buy another car. It cannot be a long term solution," she stressed.