India Legal – July 13, 2019

Environment/ Air Pollution

36 July 22, 2019

N the war against air pollution,

civic authorities should be leading

from the front. But their attitude in

the Capital has been nothing short

of callous. This was the conclusion

drawn at a meeting held in early

June by the Environment Pollution Con -

trol Authority (EPCA) to check the sta-

tus of implementation of the Graded

Re s ponse Action Plan (GRAP), under

which authorities in Delhi are supposed

to take measures for its air quality.

One of the major issues noted by

EPCA was the lack of adequate progress

in the installation of toll booths aimed

at controlling the entry of commercial

vehicles into Delhi. The Supreme Court

had on August 22, 2016, directed the

Delhi government to install Radio Fre -

quency Identification Devices (RFIDs)

at 13 entry points into the Capital, to be

monitored by the South Delhi Municipal

Corporation (SDMC). The order came

in the light of a public interest litigation

filed by MC Mehta in 1985 seeking to

control air pollution in Delhi.

The following entry points were

identified for installation of booths:

Kapasera, Aya Nagar, Tigri, Shahdara

Main, Shahdara Flyover, Kundli,

Rajokri, Ghazipur (old), Ghazipur

(main), DND, Kalindi Kunj, Badarpur

and Badarpur (flyover).

It is from these 13 entry points, out

of the total 127, that 80 percent of the

commercial traffic enters Delhi. Rules

for pre-registration of vehicles have

been laid down by the SDMC in consul-

tation with the EPCA. Under the rules,

certain categories of vehicles were gran -

ted exemption, including those fitted

with CNG engines, milk tankers, oil tan -

kers carrying petroleum products, water

tankers, ambulances and fire engines.

At the consultation meeting, Sunita

Narain, member, EPCA, reminded the

stakeholders that the project had missed

several deadlines even as she reiterated

the need to stick to the new deadline of

July 4, 2019. From July 10, 2019, no

commercial vehicle without RFID will

be allowed to enter Delhi. While eight

booths have been installed with the

RFID readers, five are still pending. All

manual booths that are still operational

have been ordered to be shut down.

Ironic as it is, the SDMC officials

claim that the delay in the completion of

installation of the new infrastructure

was due to the fact that all construction

activities at night in the winter months

of 2018 were stopped as per the direc-

tions of the EPCA. As trucks carrying

concrete mix entered Delhi only after 11

pm, work could not be undertaken until

the restrictions on construction activi-

ties were lifted.

The toll booths are to be set up with

the Environment Compensation Charge

(ECC) corpus at a cost of `125 crore over

the next five years. The booths will col-

lect the tax and the ECC funds from the

vehicles through automated RFID

devices. An estimated `432 crore would

be collected per annum following the

installation. The automated toll booths

will ensure smooth entry of trucks,

reducing congestion and thus vastly cut-

ting down the pollution caused by the

slow-moving traffic.

According to a study published by

the Delhi-based Centre for Science and

Environment (CSE), trucks are the

biggest polluters in Delhi, contributing

up to 45 percent of the total particulate

emissions from vehicles. The study

show ed clear trends of an upswing in

pollution during the movement of heavy

trucks. Time and again, the courts have

stepped in to check the uncontrolled

Time

Running

Out

Despite Delhi falling in the

“severe” to “poor” category

for more than 300 days a

year, civic authorities are lax

in taking corrective steps

By Papia Samajdar

I

UNI