With reference to "Cess rider for diesel cars in Delhi" (August 13), car manufacturers and buyers would have heaved a sigh of relief after the Supreme Court order lifting the eight-month-old ban on registration of diesel vehicles with engine capacity of 2,000 cc and above in the national capital region.
The proposed one per cent tax is a minuscule amount compared to the prices of diesel cars in this category. As rightly pointed out by environmentalists, the green cess is too little and diesel cars below 2000 cc should also come under the ambit of the proposal. Both the apex court and the government need to consider increasing the green tax to accumulate bigger revenues for cleaning the environment.
Besides, as committed by the National Democratic Alliance government to switch to BS-VI by 2020, it should be pushed aggressively. Oil refineries have also claimed there is not much difference between BS-V and BS-VI, so skipping BS-V altogether should be easy. But the investment cost is huge and they need to come on board to make this move a success.
With BS-VI diesel engine cars there would be 68 per cent less emission of nitrogen oxide and 82 per cent less particulate matter, which contribute greatly to the growing pollution in cities. The Centre needs to take all stakeholders into confidence and come up with a time-oriented goal.
Bal Govind, Noida
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