NEW DELHI: Noting that the air quality in metropolises was in violation to the prescribed standards, the National Green Tribunal on Tuesday directed the apex pollution monitoring body to file comprehensive data on the population and vehicle density in major cities across the country.
A bench headed by NGT chairperman Justice Swatanter Kumar also directed Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) to file complete data on pollution levels in these cities.
"We direct the CPCB to place before the Tribunal complete data in relation to the population density, car density, total population of the area and the pollution level of major cities in the entire country," the bench said.
On January 6, the tribunal had taken note of air pollution in Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, 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.
During the hearing, CPCB told the bench that report on pollution levels in these cities have already been filed on record.
"All the cities which were indicated, are having ambient air quality which is violative of the prescribed standard. It is a known fact that there are primarily three sources of pollution, burning of waste and other materials, dust emission from various sources and vehicular pollution. ... The directions passed in regard to NCT, would safely be applied for all these cities. But before we pass orders in that regard, in relation to all the major cities in the country, we would like the CPCB to place complete and comprehensive data," the bench said.
The matter is now fixed for hearing on May 30.
The tribunal, which was restrained by the Supreme Court from dealing with matters on air pollution in Delhi, had earlier expanded the ambit of hearing by seeking responses on worsening air quality in metropolises like Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai.
On December 18 last year, the tribunal had refused to vacate its order banning registration of new diesel-run vehicles, saying it won't interfere with the Supreme Court order which has taken a similar stand.
In contrast to the prior NGT order banning registration of all diesel vehicles, the Supreme Court on December 16 exempted small ones and specified that the diesel-run SUVs and cars having engine capacity beyond 2000 cc would not be registered in Delhi and National Capital Region.
