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The Supreme Court Thursday asked the Centre to formulate a policy to phase out heavy-duty diesel vehicles and to replace them with BSVI vehicles.
A bench of Justice AS Oka and Justice Pankaj Mithal directed that the Centre should formulate policy in six months. The order came on a plea by the Container Corporation of India challenging an order of the National Green Tribunal.
Hearing a plea, which alleged that the use of the Inland Container Depot (ICD) at Tughlaqabad by large number of trucks and trailers not destined for Delhi was contributing substantially to air pollution in Delhi NCR area, the NGT had on March 8, 2019, asked the corporation to ensure, in a phased manner, that diesel vehicles stop visiting the ICD and shift to electric, hybrid, and CNG vehicles.
The tribunal gave the corporation six months to comply with the direction.
Hearing the appeal by the corporation challenging the NGT order, the SC had on February 10, 2020, asked the court appointed Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA) to look into the issues raised in the appeal and to make recommendations to resolve the problem.
The court which perused the EPCA’s recommendations said that “the process of exploring the possibility of finding better sources, including CNG / hybrid/ electric, for the use of heavy-duty vehicles shall continue”.
It ordered that the plan for optimal utilisation of ICDs around Delhi, in terms of the EPCA recommendations, shall be formulated by the corporation in six months.
It also asked the corporation to coordinate with all official agencies to enable the setting up of central laboratories near ICDs around Delhi NCR.
The SC asked the corporation “to implement” in six months, “the recommendations made by KPMG in February 2021 for improving the parking management of vehicles in the said ICD”.
“The issue of pollution, particularly air pollution, has been a cause of concern for the last few decades. Air pollution directly affects the fundamental rights of the citizens guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution of India. The right to life guaranteed under Article 21 includes the right to live in a pollutionfree environment. The issue of air pollution is of a great deal of importance to every citizen. Air pollution affects citizens’ quality of life. It adversely affects health… ,” it pointed out.
The court will now hear it on July 31 to monitor compliance of its order.
