Phasing out petrol, diesel vehicles from Mumbai will have cascading effect on economy: Govt to HC

The government informed a division bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Makarand S Karnik that the five meetings of the committee, formed on January 21, have already been conducted and it is in process to gather requisite information from stakeholders and other affected parties.

The government filed an affidavit filed through the Joint Transport Commissioner in response to suo motu Public Interest Litigation (PIL) raising concerns over “alarming” air pollution levels in Mumbai and surrounding areas,

“This policy will have a cascading effect on huge section of population and also economy of the country and hence, a detailed, in depth, exhaustive and extensive study will be required to be done which is time consuming and hence the said committee will require a longer time frame for arriving at its conclusive study,” the affidavit stated.

On January 9, the HC had directed the formation of the committee consisting of experts, civil administrators, and those associated with the administration of traffic management to conduct the study within three months and submit a report to the court.

The affidavit said that at present, the committee cannot give an outer limit for completion of the study but the same will be done in an expeditious manner.

Meanwhile, Samadhan Pawar, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Traffic, Mumbai in an affidavit in reply stated that a panel headed by Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) has studied the traffic congestion on Western Express Highway (WEH) and identified congestion sites and suggested temporary and permanent measures to deal with the same.

The affidavit stated that on WEH and Eastern Express Highway, total 93 places with traffic congestion have been identified and officer of senior police inspector/police inspector has been appointed as nodal officer at each such place to ensure there is no traffic congestion and to take required measures to control pollution with the help of Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) officials.

The HC will hear the matter next on April 29.