SC Apr 1 deadline for BS-IV compliance non-negotiable: Narain

The deadline for the vehicular fuel norm compliance has to be "non-negotiable" and must be monitored to avoid any slippage, a member of Supreme Court- appointed green panel today said.
Sunita Narain, member of the Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA), also said the transition from BS-III to BS-IV would start now and it will lead to a "sea change".
"This deadline of April 1 is non-negotiable and we will keep monitoring that the compliance is adhered to, otherwise there would be slippages," she said.
Narian, who is also the Director General of the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), was speaking during a live discussion on Facebook on the ban imposed by the apex court on the sale and registration of Bharat Stage-III vehicles from next month.

The CSE and other green green bodies had yesterday lauded the court's decision to ban sale and registration of vehicles which are not BS-IV compliant, terming it as an acknowledgement to the public health crisis and a step in the right direction towards fighting air pollution.
"This is a significant step forward as this gives the message and the lesson that the automobile industry will have to walk the extra mile to address the expansive concern around public health and not weigh down the transition by taking a very narrow technical view," said Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director, CSE.
Observing that health of the people is "far, far more important than the commercial interests of the manufacturers", the apex court said the makers of such vehicles have declined to take "sufficient proactive steps" despite being fully aware that the firms would be required to manufacture only BS-IV compliant vehicles from April 1, 2017.

The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) had earlier informed the Supreme Court that companies were holding stock of around 8.24 lakh vehicles, which are not BS-IV compliant, including 96,000 commercial vehicles, over six lakh two-wheelers and around 40,000 three-wheelers.