In a breather of sorts, BS-VI-grade fuel will retail at Delhi’s 2,600-odd pumps from next April. The advanced, clean fuel has less sulphur content and can reduce emissions by five times, but can it restore blue skies and fresh air? In a word, no. In two words, hell no! The move advancing fuel emission norms by two years goes right to the heart (rather lungs) of the matter, but automakers say the benefits are largely lost in the absence of high-grade emission control devices in cars and bikes, which will debut only in 2020. Also, as per an IIT-Kanpur report, the biggest contributor to Delhi’s pollution is road dust, accounting for around 35 per cent of the cancer-causing particulate matter, more than vehicular pollution at 25 per cent.
According to the trade lobby SIAM, the move is in line with international practices, where higher grade fuel is first introduced giving automakers an opportunity to test and validate BS-VI technology. But the biggest beneficiaries are oil refiners. It’ll be chaotic to clear out older fuel from the supply-chain including storage tanks at refineries and filling stations across the country. The rollout starting with Delhi, will lead to a phase-wise implementation, and help oil firms spread over capex of `60,000 crore to upgrade refineries.
Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal rightly called the national capital a ‘gas chamber,’ but his past attempts to reduce pollution via the odd-even scheme or even the SC’s Diwali cracker ban ended up as a game of whack-a-mole. Crop burning after harvest, which accentuates smog in winters, is banned in four states, but its enforcement is scattered like dust in the wind.
Power plants should have sulphur scrubbers, but firms are yet to warm up to the regulation. Like China, India needs to replace coal-burning with cleaner fuels, promote electric vehicles and impose penalties on polluters, including the construction industry. It also needs to set stringent targets for PM2.5 levels across the country. Else, all efforts to reduce pollution will remain under the sod.