National Green Tribunal gives State 3 months to be Air Pollution-free

The Southern Bench of the NGT has given the Govt. of Kerala 3 months to come up with a proper action plan on making the State pollution-free.

The Bench of Justice K. Ramakrishnan & expert member Saibal Dasgupta has asked the committee constituted to study the sources of air pollution to submit an action plan for improving the ambient air quality in the State on or before Oct 7.

The order issued on June 15 said, “In original application No. 260 of 2017, this Tribunal had directed the Government of Kerala to submit the status report of the number of old vehicles plying in the State & the action taken by the Motor Vehicles Department to phase out those old vehicles as per the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 & to convert the same to green & clean fuel technology, so as to improve the air quality in the State. Till date, no report has been filed by the State of Kerala".

Air quality
The National Green Tribunal had directed the committee to carry out a study on the ambient air quality, especially in the cities of Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Kochi, Alappuzha, Kozhikode, Thrissur, Kozhikode, Kasaragod & Kannur, to identify the sources of pollution & recommend short-term & long-term measures for improving the air quality. The NGT had observed that lorries & trucks more than ten years old were the main culprits in the rising air pollution level in Kerala.

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