TEHRAN — Low-emission zone (LEZ) scheme will be set up in Tehran by September 5, aiming to mitigate air pollution in the metropolis, the secretary for a supreme council coordinating traffic system of Iran has said.

LEZ is a defined area where access by certain polluting vehicles is restricted or deterred with the aim of improving the air quality. This may favor vehicles such as hybrid electric vehicles, or zero-emission vehicles such as all-electric vehicles.

The scheme is replacing the odd-even number plate scheme (where depending on the weekday the cars with only odd or even number plate were allowed to drive) in a zone stretching over 80 kilometers of the central Tehran, Pouriya Mohammadian said, Mehr news agency reported on Tuesday.

To bring LEZ scheme into effect all the vehicles in Tehran are required to get inspection stickers indicating the level of emission they produce which are easy to track down by the traffic cameras thanks to the newly integrated vehicle inspection system, Mohammadian added.

He went on to say that since the beginning of the Iranian calendar month of Aban (October 22) when the inversion is more likely to occur the LEZ scheme will be impalement in all the city to limit the air pollution to the least amount possible.

Currently all the vehicles that display an up-to-date sticker are allowed to enter the zone but the rules might get more stringent next year, he stated.

For the first 15 days of the scheme the drivers would only receive massages which only ask them not to enter the zone anymore, Mohammadian said, adding, since September 22 those violating the newly adopted rule would get a ticket, he explained.

It’s been some years Tehran and some other metropolises of Iran are struggling with air pollution all year round more specifically in autumn and winter when the temperature inversion occur.

An inversion can lead to pollution, usually resulted from the emission generated by cars particularly high-emission clunkers, being trapped close to the ground, with possible adverse effects on health.

MQ/MG