NGT not to extend diesel vehicle ban to other cities

State govts asked to submit report on pollution levels

The NGT on Tuesday said it had no plan of extending the ban on diesel vehicles in Delhi and Kerala to other cities till it examined the data on pollution levels.

“We are not banning any vehicles. We have asked state governments to submit a report on the pollution levels in various cities. Let that data come and then we will hear different parties and decide accordingly,” a bench headed by National Green Tribunal (NGT) Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar said.

The panel gave Karnataka, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Punjab and West Bengal three weeks time for filing information on the two most polluted cities, total population of those cities and vehicle density over there.

The tribunal’s reassurance came as Additional Solicitor General Pinky Anand, appearing for Ministry of Heavy Industries, asked the bench not to extend to other cities the ban on registration of vehicles beyond 2000 CC.

She contended that about 8% FDI under "Make in India" has come from the automobile industry and the sector generates employment opportunities and any restriction would have an adverse effect on the momentum of its growth.

Senior advocate A M Singhvi, appearing for Society of Indian Automobile Manufactures, also opposed the idea of extending diesel ban to other metros and said diesel was not the only source of pollution.

“Sources of pollution are other than diesel vehicles as well. Other sources like dust and burning also contribute to the air pollution,” Singhvi said.

To this the bench said: “In any case we have already said that there are primarily three sources of pollution, burning of waste and other materials, dust emission from other sources and vehicular pollution.”

“That is why we want every state to react. We want every state to give response on each aspect. Let that data come to us and then we will hear the matter in detail,” the bench said. The tribunal had earlier taken note of air pollution in Mumbai, Kolkata, Bengaluru, Patna, Lucknow, Allahabad, Kanpur, Varanasi, Nagpur, Chennai, Hy­derabad, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Amritsar and Pune and directed states to file a comprehensive affidavit stating the steps taken by them for prevention and control of air pollution.