Why 35% of vehicles can go off Chennai's roads

CHENNAI: More than 35% of the vehicles ­ 41.5% of cars and 35% of two-wheelers - in the city may go off the roads if the Centre implements a plan to scrap vehicles that are not Bharat Stage (BS) IV compliant or were registered before 2005.

Of the 7.2 lakh cars in the city now, at least 2.98 lakh cars were purchased before 2005. Of the 36.45 lakh two-wheelers registered till 2015, 12.99 lakh are on the road for more than 10 years. A total of 15.98 lakh of these 43.65 lakh vehicles will be off the roads if the new policy ­ named Voluntary Vehicle Fleet Modernisation and which seeks to incentivise scrapping of old vehicles in exchange for cleaner air and lesser fuel consumption ­ comes into effect. According to the ministry, the policy can cut vehicular emission by 25% to 30% and reduce oil imports by nearly Rs 7,000 crore every year.

On Monday, the Centre unveiled the plan before the Su veiled the plan before the Supreme Court saying it would include incentives for vehicle owners to scrap their cars.This would mean replacing 28 million vehicles across the country. The government plans to do this by April 2017. Designated places will be provided where vehicle owners can leave their vehicle and get cash incentives to buy a new one.

However, some vehicle owners in the city say even if an old car's mileage is low, it may adhere to emission norms. "I have a car that is 12 years old. While it gives me a mileage of just 10km per litre, I get the car's pollution checked every year and it does not violate the emission norms," said Vignesh Dhiyan, who drives a sedan. "Why should I change my car then," he asked.

Experts in health and air pollution say Chennai could see an overnight improvement if the policy comes into effect. "Unlike Delhi, which has several factors that contribute to air pollution, in Chennai it is relatively lesser.So any changes at this scale will have an immediate positive impact on the city," said Dr Kalpana Balakrishnan of Sri Ramachandra Medical College and Research.

While Chennai has a cleaner record when it comes to air pollution, it is not due to better enforcement of emission norms. The sea breeze flushes out most of the pollution caused by vehicles. Given its vehicle density, pollution levels could be much higher if not for the sea breeze. "Between 2002 and 2012, Chennai has seen the second highest growth in vehicle population amongst big cities with an annual growth rate of 10.8%," Anumita Chaudhary from Centre for Science and Environment had told TOI in an earlier interaction.

Given such a high growth rate, Balakrishnan says taking vehicles off roads that are not BS-IV compliant will make the city's air cleaner. "There is no doubt about it. It could even compensate for the cars that are being added every day," she said.