"Right to clean air not for people of Delhi alone": Supreme Court on NGT's suggestion to divert trucks entering NCR

The Supreme Court on Thursday berated the National Green Tribunal (NGT) for suggesting that trucks heading to an Inland Container Depot (ICD) at Delhi's Tughlakabad be diverted to ICDs outside the National Capital Region (NCR) [Container Corporation of India Ltd vs Ajay Khera and ors]..A bench of Justices Abhay S Oka and Pankaj Mithal said that the right to clean air is not the entitlement of people living in Delhi alone and a suggestion to divert trucks to other ICDs was unjustified and unwarranted."The NGT has inter alia observed that there is an option to restrict the entry of diesel vehicles in the said ICDs at Tughlakabad by diverting these vehicles to the ICDs at Dadri, Rewari, Ballabhgarh, Khatuawas or any other ICD around Delhi so as to control the pollution in Delhi NCR, as if only the people living in Delhi NCR alone are entitled to pollution free atmosphere and not those living in other parts of the country. Such an observation by the NGT is in complete ignorance of the fact that citizens living in other parts of the country other than Delhi NCR also have a fundamental right to a pollution free environment as guaranteed by Article 21 of the Constitution of India. Such a fundamental right is equally enforceable by all and is not confined to the people of Delhi NCR," the Supreme Court stated..The observations came in a case concerning pollution caused by heavy-duty diesel trailer trucks in and around Delhi.The case arose after a former executive at the Central Warehousing Corporation approached the NGT raising grievance against the pollution caused due to the trucks coming to ICD at Tughlakabad. He prayed that the vehicles entering the depot be diverted to those around Delhi-NCR and non-electric trucks/trailers/trains not bound for Delhi be prohibited from using the depot.The NGT had called for the formulation of an action plan to divert such vehicles to Dadri ( in Uttar Pradesh) Rewari and Ballabhgarh (both in Haryana), or Khatuawas ( in Rajasthan), leading to the appeals before the apex court.The top court had issued notice in the matter in April 2019 and ordered no coercive action against the depot operators and vehicle owners..The bench in its verdict made the Union Road Transport and Highways Ministry a party to the matter for necessary compliance.Further, it implored authorities to continue exploring less polluting heavy-duty vehicles (including CNG/Hybrid/Electric ones), and directed that the recommendations by consultancy firm KPMG regarding parking of vehicles at container depots in NCR be implemented in six months.It took note of the report and recommendations of the Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA) formed by it in earlier orders in the case, and passed the following directions:- After examining recommendations, the Union of India shall formulate a policy of phasing out heavy duty diesel vehicles and replacing them with BSVI vehicles. The Union of India shall formulate appropriate policy on this behalf within six months from today;- The plan for optimal utilisation of ICDs around Delhi shall be formulated by the appellant within six months from today. In the meanwhile, the appellant will coordinate with all the official agencies to enable the setting up of central laboratories near ICDs around Delhi NCR..The Court kept the case open to monitor the implementation of its directions and listed the matter next on July 31. The Union Road Transport and Highways Ministry was asked to file a compliance report by then.Advocates Mayuri Raghuvanshi, Sanjay Upadhyay, Vyom Raghuvanshi, Saumitra Jaiswal, Shubham Upadhyay, Akanksha Rathore, Arushi Malik and Anoushka Day appeared for the applicants before the NGT.Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati and Senior Advocate Pinaki Mishra appeared for the Container Corporation of India and various Central government departments..This is the second Supreme Court verdict today slamming the NGT. In another case, it had criticised the tribunal for stalling the implementation of the draft Development Plan 2041 for Shimla by passing stringent directions..[Read Judgment]