Why the new order on private vehicles deals a blow to the concept of NCR

NEW DELHI: Work in Delhi, live in NCR: for decades now, this is how the dream of owning your own house has been sold to thousands of people living in what is known as the National Capital Region (NCR).

On Tuesday, as its minister announced that private vehicles not registered in Delhi cannot enter the city unless they are BSVI compliant, the state govt appeared to re-draw lines that, at least in people's minds, had grown faint.

The need for a body to suggest ways to decongest Delhi came up as early as 1985, when the NCR Planning Board (NCRPB) was set up. In the past four decades, however, there are few plans that could materialise.


Former member secretary of the board, Omesh Saigal, who also served as Delhi's chief secretary, said the idea had collapsed.

"The idea of NCR and the board is a flop. This order flies in the face of the very concept of a national capital region. You are essentially blocking people from going to office, coming home and in some cases, even going to school," Saigal told TOI.

Saigal also recalled how at one point in time, former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had passed an order that no new govt offices would come up in Delhi.

"No one seems to remember this anymore. All headquarters are in Delhi. Unfortunately, the NCR Planning Board Act provides only for a board without any legal rights. If we want NCR to function as a whole, it must have a common executive authority. This absence is the reason things here don't work as planned," he said.

Another former Delhi chief secretary, who did not want to be named, agrees.

"You are taking these decisions in the name of pollution because there is barely anything that you can do. Delhi has been functioning beyond capacity for several years now... no one is looking at the big picture -- the city as it is right now, cannot be governed... It needs a model like that of Delhi Metro where political considerations do not stop work," the former bureaucrat said.

For years, NCRPB has discussed plans for seamless connectivity.

Talking about vehicular pollution, the NCR draft regional plan 2041 states, "Vehicular Pollution in NCR is a major concern. As per Ministry of Earth Sciences, Delhi has experienced about 40% increase in vehicular pollution during 2010-2018. Vehicles in the NCR region contribute to 40% to 50% of the pollution."

Suggesting seamless movement across borders in NCR, the draft document states, "Steps shall be taken to prevent closure of interstate borders by States in NCR area, except in emergency situations like crime control etc. Delhi has 9 major locations contributing to 75% of total entry traffic. These entry points should be kept congestion free all the year around for a seamless NCR. Public and Commercial vehicle movements have to be seamless across State borders."

Sources, meanwhile, said that practical issues with stopping entry of private vehicles were flagged when the proposal was first mooted months ago. Officials had flagged that stopping vehicles at nearly 60 entry points of Delhi may cause chaos, which will end up creating more pollution at borders. The possibility of the move becoming a source of corruption with law enforcing personnel exercising discretion was also discussed.

Terming the move to ban entry of old vehicles as a "crude way of handling pollution", former member secretary of NCRPB, Noor Mohammed said, "There is huge increase in private vehicles because of less focus on public transport. Who knows how many govt vehicles in Delhi are BS-III or BS-IV? When their own vehicles continue to pollute, they stop private vehicles registered in neighbouring areas. We must remember that NCR expanded because there was no scope for expansion of Delhi," he added.