LEZ a Long-Term Solution for Clean Air

Tehran air quality has not seen any improvement despite the launch of the Low Emission Zone scheme.

Vahid Hosseini, director of Tehran's Air Quality Control Company, maintains that such large-scale projects will produce results in the long run and must be continued to bear fruit.

"It is naive to expect the LEZ scheme to alleviate Tehran's air quality in the short run," he said, ISNA reported.

Stressing that the plan has not been abandoned, the official said vehicles' technical inspection control in the odd-even traffic zones has begun and the company is holding regular meetings with government and municipal officials to start the next phases of the plan as per an appropriate schedule.

This will allow the public enough time to go through technical tests and repair or upgrade their cars.

"The scheme has only just started and will not be terminated," Hosseini said.

The LEZ scheme was proposed by Tehran Municipality and attempts have been made to implement it since past three years. However, the current phase only involves controlling the vehicles' technical inspection.

"Our original proposal was meant to enforce more stringent rules on polluting vehicles, but the authorities decided to start off the plan this way due to certain social considerations," he said.  

The project is not expected to deliver any quick results even after the actual scheme is enacted.  

The official noted that the "real" LEZ scheme will ban a number of cars from entering certain districts in the city, which means that car owners will choose an alternative route for a while before they are finally frustrated and decide to overhaul or dump their vehicle.  

"As long as polluting vehicles are not phased out, no significant change will be seen in Tehran's air quality," he said.

Hosseini clarified that the scheme is not meant to help ease traffic congestions and is merely a long-term plan to reduce air pollution.