Mumbai, The Bombay Excessive Courtroom has directed the Maharashtra authorities to type a panel to discover the feasibility of phasing out diesel and petrol automobiles, saying cars choking Mumbai’s roads are a significant contributor to town’s worsening air high quality.
Arrange panel to think about phasing out petrol and diesel automobiles in Mumbai: HC to Maharashtra govt
A division bench of Chief Justice D Ok Upadhyaya and Justice Girish Kulkarni directed the federal government to type a committee of specialists and civil directors inside a fortnight to think about whether or not it is going to be possible to part out diesel- and petrol-based automobiles from Mumbai’s roads and allow solely these operating on CNG or electrical energy.
The order was handed on a public curiosity litigation that the HC had taken up by itself in 2023 over town’s poor Air High quality Index .
The court docket had heard the matter on January 9.
In its detailed order made out there on Wednesday, the bench stated vehicular air pollution was a significant contributor to worsening air high quality within the metropolis.
“The roads in Mumbai Metropolitan Region are choked with vehicles and density of the vehicles on the roads is alarming, which, in result, compounds the problems relating to air pollution and makes all measures taken to mitigate the same inadequate,” the court docket stated.
It emphasised the necessity for a radical research to be carried out on whether or not it could be “appropriate or feasible to phase out diesel and petrol-driven vehicles”.
The bench stated the committee that will be fashioned by the federal government shall conduct its research inside three months and submit its report.
The excessive court docket additionally directed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Company and the Maharashtra Air pollution Management Board to make sure that metropolis bakeries utilizing wooden and coal convert their items to run on fuel or different inexperienced fuels inside six months as an alternative of the one-year deadline set by the authorities.
“In our opinion, urgent and effective measures are required to be taken against such bakery units so that such units which are in large numbers in the city, do not generate air pollution and more particularly, limit hazardous particulate matter,” the bench famous.
The bench stated no new approvals to open bakeries or related companies operating on coal or wooden shall be granted henceforth, and new licences shall be granted after complying with the situation that they use solely inexperienced gas.
The bench additionally directed the civic physique and MPCB to put in air pollution indicators at development websites. The court docket posted the matter for additional listening to on February 13.