The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to hear a writ petition on December 15 for a direction to the Centre and other authorities to take immediate and adequate steps to prescribe stringent emission standards on all parameters such as particulate matter, nitrogen oxide, sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide for both petrol and diesel vehicles.
A three-judge bench of Chief Justice T.S. Thakur and Justices A.K. Sikri and R. Banumathi posted for hearing the petition filed by Dr Arvind Gupta, an economist, highlighting pollution being caused by diesel vehicles. The bench said the petition for which notice was issued in July 2013 will be heard along with other air pollution petitions.
In his petition, he said: “The data available from the WHO shows that Indian cities are almost 10 times more polluted than the other cities of the world, which is a serious infraction of the fundamental rights of the citizens of India. The WHO estimates that more than 2 million people die every year from breathing in tiny particles present indoors and outdoors due to air pollution. PM10 particles, which are particles of 10 micrometres or less, can penetrate into the lungs and may enter the bloodstream and cause heart diseases, lung cancer, asthma, and acute lower respiratory infections.”
“The WHO air quality guidelines for particulate matter 2005 in its question and answer actually records New Delhi along with Karachi, Kathmandu and Beijing as the most polluted cities in the world. The prime culprit for this alarming rise in the levels of RSPM and other pollutants is the extensive use of diesel-fired car engines which have proliferated extensively on Indian roads thanks to the encouragement by the government policies. The executive and the legislature have failed in their duties in safeguarding the fundamental rights of the citizens to a pollution-free environment.”
The petitioner said, “It is a well-known fact that diesel is one of the dirtiest of all motor transportation fuels.” He sought a direction for taking adequate steps immediately to prescribe emission standards in tune with EURO V on all parameters such as particulate matter), nitrogen oxide, carbon monoxide, sulphur dioxide and lead for diesel and petrol vehicles uniformly throughout India.
