A high court division bench on Friday directed Calcutta police to file an affidavit stating the steps they had taken against polluting heavy vehicles that ply in the city at night.
The affidavit must mention the charges slapped on such vehicles, stated the division bench of Chief Justice S.S. Nijjar and Justice S.P. Mitra.
The judges directed the state pollution control board to file another affidavit stating how it was measuring air pollution in Calcutta. “According to the board, it measures the pollution level at 17 points. The court is directing the board to state details of the measurement,” stated the judges.
The order was passed on a petition moved in 2007 by environment activist Subhash Dutta who claimed that about 10,000 lorries that entered the city each night caused tremendous air pollution. “The pollution control board has found that the air pollution level at night is higher than in the day,” stated the petition.
Dutta also alleged the state government and the pollution control board were ineffective in tackling the problem.
Last year, the transport secretary had filed an affidavit expressing helplessness in combating the problem. He told the court that the government did not have the infrastructure to check night pollution.
After the court expressed its displeasure, the transport department said it would file an affidavit mentioning how the government would solve the problem.
On Friday, the department in an affidavit claimed the police had started taking action against polluting vehicles.
