While a new scheme was to be implemented in Tehran to help curb air pollution, the plan has been delayed. The inaction by authorities has raised concern among environmentalists who say further delays are not admissible for the execution of the plan that is the metropolis’s last hope.
According to a plan announced in 2015, as of Oct. 24 clunkers and dilapidated vehicles were to be barred from Tehran. Reports now say implementation of the crucial scheme has been postponed.
Department of Environment boss Isa Kalantari in a letter has called on Interior Minister Abdolreza Rahmani Fazli to accelerate the process of implementing the plan “as there is no major impediment,” ISNA reported.
More recently Traffic Police has being pushing for delays in the plan -- a part of the Low Emission Zone Scheme. Passed in August 2015 by the High Council for Coordination of Urban Traffic, the scheme demands banning highly polluting cars and two-wheelers from entering Tehran's clogged roads.
The plan's first phase took effect in October 2016, involving only control of vehicles' technical inspections in the restricted areas – an 80sqm area in central parts of the capital in which only public transport and cars with special permits are allowed to enter during working hours.
The second phase, which was to be launched in late October, calls for covering a much wider area and restrict cars, buses, and heavy vehicles without the mandatory technical inspection from entering city of Tehran.
The Traffic Police says thousands of vehicles lack the special technical inspection approval papers and motorists should be given more time to get their vehicles checked and fixed if necessary.
Police say in recent weeks many drivers have rushed to the inspection centers to get their vehicles tested causing unusually large queues.
According to the Traffic Police, the plan should be put off for at least two months until necessary measures are taken and the capital is ready and able to embark on the new rules for motor vehicles.
>Time Ticking Away
In response, DOE deputy Masoud Zandi says the plan is already behind schedule and call for further postponement must not be entertained.
Zandi recalls that the new phase was to become operational two weeks ago, but the plan have been given a back seat based on “unacceptable excuses”.
He is of the opinion that Tehran is prepared for launching the scheme. “The number of traffic surveillance cameras on the capital's main roads has increased from 300 to over 1,200, creating in its wake a strong monitoring network together with field surveillance by the Traffic Police.”
Currently, the cameras are used to monitor unauthorized entry of motorists in the restricted zones in central Tehran and other traffic violations.
While time is of essence, disputes stubbornly persist over the implementation of the plan designed to reduce air pollution in the long-term and make life livable in the province that his home to 12 million people.
As the fourth leading cause of premature deaths worldwide, toxic air leads to heart disease and stroke, lung cancer and respiratory infections.
According to a report released by the Iranian Legal Medicine Organization, during the fiscal that ended in March, some 12,000 air pollution-related deaths were recorded in Iran with one-third of the fatalities in the capital.
