Measures aimed at slashing vehicle emissions will be introduced two years early, the Indian government has announced in its first major policy response to the Delhi smog crisis. 
As the haze improved slightly yesterday – albeit to levels still considered “very poor” – the petroleum ministry said it would introduce Bharat VI fuels from April next year, instead of April 2020 as originally planned. 
The Bharat standards govern the volume of toxic materials permitted in the fuels that power the estimated 10mn cars that operate in the Indian capital and contribute significantly to its dangerously poor air quality. 
The new fuels will have one-fifth the sulphur count of the existing standards, and 1,000 times less sulphur than fuels used in 1995. 
Polash Mukherjee, an air pollution researcher at the Delhi-based Centre for Science and Environment, said the fuel standards would need to be paired with equally stringent technology standards to be fully effective. The combination of the two could reduce particulate matter from diesel vehicles by 90%, and petrol vehicles by around 60%, he said. 
The technology standards are scheduled to be implemented in 2020, but Mukherjee said lobbying efforts were under way to bring them forward. 
Vehicle emissions make up around a fifth of the total pollution load in Delhi. Studies suggest road dust thrown up by vehicles contributes another 35%. The two combined result in gaseous fumes forming secondary particles that bond with the thick dust and lingering in the air. 
The initiative is the first long-term policy step to be taken by the central government since pollution levels reached “hazardous” levels last week and doctors declared a public health emergency. 
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government has been criticised for failing to take the crisis seriously, while some measures announced by Delhi authorities have been held up by courts and criticised as quick fixes. 
Yesterday, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal met with Manohar Lal Khattar, his counterpart in Haryana that also has dangerous air pollution levels. 
In a joint statement they said they had agreed “on many measures aimed at preventing its re-occurrence in the winter of 2018”. 
Speaking to reporters after his meeting with Khattar, Kejriwal said: “We cannot control the direction of the wind. We all will have to make efforts to control air pollution.”
Kejriwal, who had earlier blamed farmers of Punjab and Haryana for causing smoke and air pollution in Delhi, avoided blaming anyone.
Kejriwal was earlier greeted by protests by activists of the Shiromani Akali Dal and Congress when he reached the Chandigarh airport.
Opposition leaders in Haryana criticised Khattar for agreeing to meet Kejriwal, saying the Delhi chief minister was raking up the issue only to blame farmers in Haryana and Punjab for causing air pollution by burning stubble.
Kejriwal has been critical of the states that surround Delhi for not cracking down on the annual burning of hundreds of acres of crop waste, which sends toxic smoke billowing across north India. However, state leaders, including Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh have said their farmers cannot afford to clear their fields any other way, and need financial incentives to do so. 
“Farmers cannot be expected to give up crop residue burning completely till the time they are provided viable solutions,” Singh said on Tuesday. 
Meteorologists have predicted the “very poor” conditions will last for the foreseeable future.



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