Project to remotely gather Delhi-Gurugram on-road emission data to be over soon

Officials associated with the pilot project said over 65,000 vehicles have been tested so far with data being gathered from 10 locations in Delhi and Gurugram. Another five locations will soon be equipped with these emission analysing devices, officials said

Delhi and Gurugram are for the first time carrying out a remote sensing of vehicles, to gather on-the-spot emission data, and the exercise is expected to be completed by the end of the month, officials said.

The pilot aims to gather data from around 100,000 vehicles to assess which vehicle types were more polluting. (PTI)

Officials associated with the pilot project said over 65,000 vehicles have been tested so far with data being gathered from 10 locations in Delhi and Gurugram. Another five locations will soon be equipped with these emission analysing devices, officials said.

The pilot has been ongoing since January 2023 and is being executed by the International Council on Clean Transportation (ICCT), which aims to gather data from around 100,000 vehicles in order to assess which vehicle types were more polluting and whether pollution under control (PUC) norms were being met or not.

The study is being carried out by ICCT in collaboration with the Delhi transport department, the Gurugram administration and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), which will further analyse this data for possible policy level changes.

Preliminary findings of the study are likely to be released from April onwards, said officials.

Amit Bhatt, managing director (India), International Council on Clean Transportation, said the ”dieselgate” or the emissions scandal from 2015 only highlights the fact that while emissions from vehicles during lab testing may be low, on-road emissions could be much higher, thereby necessitating a real-time mechanism to monitor vehicular emissions.

In late 2015, auto maker Volkswagen AG admitted that it rigged diesel vehicles and installed a “cheat device” to bypass emissions tests in the United States, with a potential impact on about 11 million vehicles worldwide.

“The data once gathered will be analysed from April onwards and we aim to see which vehicle segments, which engine type and which fuel type was releasing the highest amount of gases. It will also indicate if PUC norms are being met or not and whether they need to be made more stringent.” he said.

Remote sensing makes use of emission analysers which are installed at the ground-level, often at the level of the exhaust, while devices can also be installed vertically above, making toll plazas an ideal location for such remote monitoring.

The technology uses infrared and ultraviolet beams to capture data on gases and pollutants released, which are later compared to emission standards and PUC norms.

The study is monitoring pollutants which include nitrogen oxide (NO), nitrogen dioxide (NO2), hydrocarbons, carbon monoxide (CO) and particulate matter (PM), with similar studies already carried out by ICCT in London, Brussels, Jakarta, Paris, Warsaw and Mexico City between 2017 and 2022.

Bhatt said both Delhi and Gurugram, the locations chosen primarily included toll plazas, with focus on capturing data on commercial vehicles entering the city. In Delhi, the eight locations covered so far include the DND toll plaza, Dhaula Kuan, Wazirpur, the MCD toll at the Delhi-Gurugram border near Ambience mall, Delhi airport’s terminal-3, the Anand Vihar ISBT, Kashmere Gate ISBT and an MCD toll plaza near north Delhi. In Gurugram, so far, readings have been collected from Sohna road and the Kherki Daula toll plaza.

“We aim to cover another five locations, which will be chosen based on factors such as traffic volume and coordination with agencies. We don’t wish to disrupt the traffic flow or cause inconvenience to commuters while installing these devices,” he added.

On July 26, 2019, the Supreme Court appointed body Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA) had recommended the need for remote sensing technology across NCR, stating while some vehicles may pass PUC checks, technical anomalies and other factors may still make them high emitters.

Anumita Roychowdhury, executive director, research and advocacy at the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE) said at present, there is a need to go beyond PUC norms, which can be done through advanced monitoring systems that track on-road emissions.

“They can track critical pollutants more than what is possible under PUC and can also notify instantly if emissions are found to be high. Remote sensing allows us to also check if emission control systems are performing efficiently during the useful life of a vehicle on road.” she said.

Ashish Kundra, principal secretary and commissioner of Transport, Delhi, said once the pilot is complete, the data will help compare on-road emission data against idling emissions at PUC centres. “This data will also help us make an informed assessment on the degree of variation between the two and act as diagnostic tool for assessing vehicular emissions in the real world,” he said.

Gurugram deputy commissioner Nishant Kumar Yadav said only when emissions from vehicles in real-time are known can mitigation efforts be planned. “This (pilot project) will help us plan better on the mitigation front.”