Publication

Abstract : In an effort to reduce the impact of vehicular emissions on air quality, India has set Bharat Stage (BS) emission standards since 2000 and the country has now shifted to BS-VI norms from April 2020 onwards. In the present work, the impacts of different stages of BS emission standards in controlling the pollutant emissions are analyzed. The results show that the CO, NMVOC, OC and BC emissions have reduced by 7%, 9.7%, 20% and 5% respectively in 2021, when compared to 2017. Despite the stringent emission norms throughout the years, the NOx emission levels have increased by 4.9% in 2021 with reference to 2017. The NOx emissions show a positive correlation with vehicular population under BS-VI norms. The findings indicate that though the advanced emission control measures are expected to effectively reduce the emissions, it comes out with the penalty of emitting new pollutant species and increase in NOx levels. Thus it calls for the integration of different emission control technologies in a balanced way, which is not reflected in the current policy scenarios.