The Supreme Court order of September 22 stipulates that all commercial vehicles 15 years old and above have to be off the roads after December 31.

Transport Commissioner S. Regunathan says he has written to the Environment Pollution (Prevention & Control) Authority (EPA), seeking its opinion about the possibility of replacing the engines of vehicles turning 15 from January.

If EPA okays the request, the government may file an affidavit in the Supreme Court later this year.

Otherwise an official, the registration number of a vehicle will stand cancelled on the date it turns 15, starting from January 1 next year.

This information will be passed on to the Delhi Traffic Police and vigilance squads of the transport department. And any such commercial vehicle found plying thereafter will be impounded and deposited at the government dump in Burari.

``The government must come out with an alternative, the future of more than 18,000 families is stake,'' says Jaswant Singh Arora of the Federation of Transport Unions Congress. ``One possible solution is that we are allowed to replace the old engine with a fuel-efficient one''.

That is why, says Regunathan, the government has written to the EPA headed by Central Vigilance Commission member Bhure Lal. ``We are attempting to reduce the rigours of the commuters as well as the owners''.

There are other reasons, he points out, which have prompted the government to write to EPA before laying down a policy.

``Fuel quality is improving; buses are being tried on CNG; auto-rickshaws with four-stroke engines are on their way; and Hindustan Motors has offered to replace old taxis with new CNG taxis. All of these will help reduce pollution levels in Delhi,'' says Regunathan.

Bhure Lal, incidentally, had submitted a report on pollution in the Capital earlier this year. And the Supreme Court had accepted the Bhure Lal Committee report and its recommendations, before issuing directions regarding the phasing out of old commercial vehicles.

Arora and other transporters are eagerly awaiting EPA's response to the Regunathan's letter. ``Till then the Government should provide us with 100 per cent tax-free loans. Most of the owners and drivers are not in a position to buy new vehicles on their own. And their old vehicles will be sold as scrap.'' Even if EPA gives a nod to the engine-replacement scheme, it must conform to the Supreme Court's other directions: ``Replacement of all pre-1990 autos and taxis with new vehicles on clean fuels (by March 31, 2000); no eight-year-old bus to ply except on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) or other clean fuels (by April 1, 2000)''.