NGT notice on LPG vehicles
The total number of vehicles rise from 5.17L in 1990 to 40.10 lakh in 2013.
Chennai: The Southern Bench of the National Green Tribunal in Chennai issued notice on Thursday to the Central and state governments on a PIL, seeking a direction to authorities to introduce the use of LPG/CNG in commercial and other vehicles operated in the city.
On a petition from L.G. Sahadevan of Thambu Chetty Street, the bench comprising judicial member Justice M.Chockalingam and expert member R.Nagendran, directed the secretary, Union ministry of environment and forests (MoEF), state home secretary and Commissioner of Police to file their replies on February 10, 2014.
In the petition, Sahadevan sought a direction to the authorities to implement the use of LPG/ CNG in auto-rickshaws, share-autos, Metropolitan Transport Corporation buses, tourist cars and other public transport vehicles in the city within a period. Pursuant to the orders of the Supreme Court, all vehicles in Delhi were converted to CNG and auto-rickshaws were being driven with LPG in
Kolkata, Bangalore and Hyderabad.
The total number of vehicles had risen from 5.17 lakh in 1990 to 11.5 lakh in 2000, and to 40.10 lakh in 2013. About 60 to 70 per cent of air pollution in the city was caused by vehicles.
This air pollution was causing health hazards, leading to respiratory diseases, cancer and tuberculosis, the petitioner contended.