Many Asian countries are clamping down with tighter in-use standards, junking polluting cars, giving incentives to replace old vehicles and restricting numbers.

CHINA: By July 2000, about 37 cities have stopped issuing new licenses for motorcycles. In 21 cities, only limited licenses were issued, says Wang Song Qin, of Motor Cycle Technical Centre, Tianjin.

THAILAND: A joint programme of the government, the World Bank and the manufacturers is targeting the worst polluters. Those that need major repairs get discounted parts and labour from the manufacturers. The government provides monetary incentives for trade-in and scrapping of old vehicles. The user can also opt for reengineering of old two-wheelers and sell those to recover costs. Kirida Bhaopichitr of the World Bank and Panya Warapetcharayut of the Pollution Control Department, Thailand, inform that under the programme 250,000 motorcycles were tested recently. Minor repairs were conducted on 80,000 units and major repairs on 3,000 units. About 21,000 old vehicles went for trade-in, and 10,500 for reengineering. Nearly 10,500 vehicles were scrapped.

INDIA: Measures are adopted only in Delhi, where three-wheeler registration numbers have been frozen at the 1998 level and the existing fleet is to be replaced with either CNG three-wheelers or four-stroke three-wheelers on low benzene gasoline.