Rust and red tape: Why Delhi's ELV scrappage drive is sluggish

In the dusty and cluttered corners of Delhi's urban sprawl, past the clamour of flyovers and tail lights, lie graveyards of metal and memory. Over 17,000 vehicles —rusted shells stacked in precarious towers — clog 26 impound yards across the Capital. These “open malkhanas” have become holding zones for Delhi’s End-of-Life Vehicles (ELVs), condemned by age, air pollution laws, and court orders.

- Snehil Sinha and Karn Pratap Singh

But the city's ambitious scrappage mission is choking on its own backlog. In early July, the Delhi government — under pressure from the Commission for Air Quality Management (CAQM) — launched yet another drive to tow and scrap ELVs. Barely 100 vehicles were impounded in the first two days. Meanwhile, the yards are nearing capacity, scrapping facilities are limited.

“There are 17 registered scrapping centres in the NCR, but only one in Delhi—and that too is just two months old. Towing vehicles to places like Sonepat or Hapur adds to our costs. At the same time, we can't keep dumping them in yards that are already overflowing,” said a senior transport department official. “We need alternatives. Otherwise, this is a logistical deadlock.”

A logistical mess

The crackdown on ELVs across NCR began with National Green Tribunal (NGT) orders in 2014, which was then reinforced by the Supreme Court in 2018 ~ effectively barred diesel vehicles older than 10 years and petrol vehicles older than 15 from Delhi's roads. In August 2023, the Delhi High Court directed the administration to frame concrete guidelines to deal with such vehicles.

Those guidelines —titled Handling of End-of-Life Vehicles in Public Places, 2024 —now govern the campaign. The rules say even stationary ELVs parked in public spaces are deemed to be “plying” and are eligible for seizure.

“Our job is to enforce the law, not make exceptions,” said a senior Delhi Traffic Police officer.