NGT dismisses plea seeking policy of one car per family

Green panel calls plea premature, asks petitioner to approach authority concerned

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Wednesday dismissed a plea which sought directions to formulate a policy to register private vehicles in the Capital in accordance with the norm of “one family one car”.

Rise in trips

A Bench headed by NGT acting chairperson U.D. Salvi disposed of the petition after calling it “premature”. Further, the Bench has asked the petitioner to approach the authority concerned.

The petition had been filed by advocate Sajan K. Singh who alleged that carbon emissions from an increasing number of private and commercial vehicles were causing environmental degradation which in turn was a threat to human lives.

Emphasising on the increasing population and vehicles, the plea read,

“The period between 1981 and 2001 saw a phenomenal increase in the growth of vehicles and traffic in Delhi. There has been a rise in per capita trip rate [excluding walk trips] from 0.72 in 1981 to 0.87 in 2001. Keeping in view the population growth, this translates to an increase from 45 lakh trips to around 118 lakh trips”.

Seeking formulation of a policy for the registration of private vehicles, the plea said that only one car should be permitted to be registered in one residential unit.

‘No effective steps’

“The population of motor vehicles has increased from 5.13 lakh in 1981 to 32.38 lakh in 2001 and the number of buses has increased from 8,600 to 41,483 during this period. They contribute significantly to the ambient air quality and thus unrestricted acquisition of both private and commercial vehicles must be regulated,” added the plea.

In the plea that was quashed by the green panel, Mr. Singh further alleged that due to a lack of effective steps by the authorities, there was a rise in the pollution levels and subsequent environmental deterioration which had resulted in the Capital turning into a gas chamber.