
Aam Aadmi Party leader Atishi on Wednesday criticized the Delhi government’s policy to banning fuel for 10-year-old diesel vehicles and 15-year-old petrol vehicles, calling it arbitrary order.
She said that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has issued a ‘Tughlaqi Farman’ to harass the people of Delhi and to remove 62 lakh 10-year-old vehicles from the road.
Addressing a press conference here, she said, “Under this order, these vehicles will stop getting fuel in Delhi and they will not be able to run on the roads. This order will have a very bad impact on lakhs of families in Delhi.”
She said that the Delhi government has issued this order just to benefit vehicle manufacturing companies.
“There is no relation between the age of vehicles and pollution. If a vehicle is maintained properly, it does not cause pollution,” she said.
She further said that the BJP government has passed this arbitrary decree in collusion with the vehicle manufacturing companies. After this decree, 62 lakh vehicles will have to be removed from the road and new vehicles will have to be purchased and the companies will benefit.
BJP should tell how much donation they have received from these vehicle manufacturing companies that they have issued this arbitrary order, which will benefit the companies, she said.
Slamming the government, she said the government could have bring a new law but it did not because it is only concerned about the vehicle manufacturing companies.
“Can’t the BJP’s four-engine government bring a new law in the assembly for the benefit of the people? The government can bring a new law keeping in mind the fitness of vehicles. The government is not concerned about the people of Delhi, it is only concerned about the vehicle manufacturing companies who will get to sell lakhs of new vehicles due to this order,” she added.
In order to curb vehicular pollution which leads to poor air quality in Delhi, the government has banned the refueling diesel vehicles older than 10 years and petrol vehicles older than 15 years from July 1, 2025.
This move has been initiated by the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM), is being implemented at 350 petrol stations citywide with the help of Automated Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras and real-time monitoring by enforcement teams.