End of the road for classic and vintage cars in Delhi?

The Supreme Court of India has rejected the appeal for re-registration of a 20-year-old Rolls Royce driving the final nail in the coffins of vintage and classic cars in Delhi. The renewal of registration has been denied following the National Green Tribunal’s (NGT) diktat for the ban of cars over 15 years of age from plying on Delhi roads.

This is the same mindless diktat that banned the sale of diesel vehicles with engine capacity above 2000cc in the national capital. The diktat came as a knee-jerk reaction after the air quality index plummeted during winter, also sparking the odd-even rule in Delhi.

The NGT fails to understand that the major reasons for the bad air quality in Delhi are a result of the unabated emissions from industries, illegal kilns and crop burning in the neighbouring states of Punjab and Haryana before their sowing season. The next biggest polluters are the old commercial vehicles and ill-maintained public transport that spew ten times more pollutants than passenger cars.

Now that the Supreme Court has endorsed the hare-brained scheme of the NGT, vintage and classic car enthusiasts will now have to undergo the cumbersome process of registering their cars in nearby states, away from NCR, if they are keen on retaining their collection.