Preliminary reports on the National Green Tribunal’s diesel ban show that the Tribunal’s order faces major hurdles in enforcing the ban, the Indian Express has reported.
The report presented to the Green Tribunal by lawyers who have been appointed as commissioners to enforce the ban, cited shortage of staff, lack of pollution monitoring devices at many check points among many of the the major issues in enforcing the directive of the NGT to ban any diesel vehicle that is over 10 years old.
Each time a vehicle is impounded one official has to accompany it to the impound pit of the (Transport) Department which is located at Burari, approximately 20 kilometres away.
–Aditya N Prasad, Commissioner
Other major problems include. lack of barricades at check points that force officials to “stand in the middle of the highway to stop vehicles”, leading to “6 near misses or near accidents”,
Also a “high level of visible pollution or fumes”; “no protective equipment or masks or reflectors provided” was another shortcoming affecting officials, mentioned in the report.
Also the one site in north Delhi to park large vehicles that are impounded by the Transport Department was fast running out of space .
Six commissioners are now expected to submit a joint report to the NGT with their recommendations on how to improve the monitoring process in the coming weeks, the Indian Express reports.
The recommendations to the NGT include more staff, more pollution monitoring equipment, weigh bridges and dedicated areas to inspect overloaded checkpoints etc.
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