Though the Mashelkar Committee recommends stricter emission norms for 11 cities in the country including Bengaluru, various groups in the transport sector have stated that in the state, a few automobile companies are still not adhering to the norms and are promoting and selling old version vehicles, mainly EURO 2 and EURO 3.

The Mashelkar Committee which was set up last year to look into issues of fuel quality and auto technology, submitted its report to the ministry of petroleum and natural gas. Under the auto fuel policy formulated by this expert committee, 11 cities in the country are slated for stricter vehicular emission norms. “In 2002, the Indian government accepted the report submitted by the Mashelkar committee. The committee proposed a road map for the roll out of Euro based emission norms for India. According to the schedule set by the report, new vehicles in 11 cities will have to meet Euro III norms by 2005 and Euro IV emission norms by 2010. Regulatory agencies made this rules for the smooth running of traffic and to control pollution. But the rule is not being implemented in its true sense,” said general secretary of BTTOA (what is this?? Gita. Pl insert the full form here), K.Radhakrishna Holla.

“Vehicle manufacturer are promoting and distributing their old version vehicles mainly EURO 2 and EURO 3, especially TATA Motors. This issue needs to be seriously addressed by state government and the regulatory authorities,” said Holla.