New Delhi, July 31 -- My biggest loss since returning to India has been that of my beloved Thar. I had to give up this handsome whale of a car, inspired by the Jeep Wrangler, some years ago, and not because it was unfit for its purpose. Rather, it was because of a bizarre rule that places a cap of 10 years on the life of all vehicles running on diesel and 15 years on those powered by petrol in Delhi. Beyond those years, the vehicle, even if found parked on the road, will be seized and sent packing to the scrap yard. The ban was passed by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) in 2014 and upheld by the Supreme Court in 2018.

It was a brutal setback to me, an expat trying to settle back down in the city I had grown up in and continue to love. I...