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Mumbai: Observing that Mumbai roads are “choked”, the traffic density is “alarming” and efforts to mitigate vehicular pollution are “ineffective”, Bombay High Court has directed the state to form a panel to conduct a study to see whether diesel and petrol vehicles on city roads need to be phased out.
HC division bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya and Justice Amit Borkar, in an order passed now, said, “We are of the opinion that a thorough study needs to be conducted to arrive at a decision as to whether it will be appropriate and feasible to phase out diesel and petrol-diesel driven vehicles from the roads of Mumbai and permit only those motor vehicles which run on compressed natural gas (CNG) and electric charge.”
The committee has to be set up in a fortnight and shall comprise civil and traffic administrators, HC directed. The court directed the panel to submit a report in three months to the court via advocate general Birendra Saraf.
The detailed order made available on Tuesday night also directed BMC and Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) to get bakeries and bhattis to stop using wood and coal as fuel and convert their units to gas or other green fuels. HC halved the year-long deadline set by the state and directed the BMC to ensure the transfer to clean fuel in six months.
HC, in March and June 2024, directed MPCB to undertake a pollution audit of various industries falling in different categories in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), particularly the red category industries, in six months.
MPCB cited staff shortage for its failure to complete the audit and said 1,300 staff are to be added, including technical, scientific, administrative, and accounts staff. MPCB counsel Jyoti Chavan informed the HC only 36 posts were advertised for recruitment. The HC said MPCB’s approach was “most casual to say the least”. The HC expressed serious concern over MPCB’s duty to society at large and directed the state to sanction funds to fill all new posts in six months.
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