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Several diesel and petrol vehicles belonging to the Government of the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi have completed their life of 10-15 years but are still plying on the road, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) was informed December 16, 2024.
An application was filed by Jitendra Mahajan, chairman of the state development committee, Shahdara and a member of legislative assembly in NCT of Delhi. He filed the application based on his personal experience concerning the non-compliance of the norms by his old official vehicle, which was causing excessive air pollution.
The counsel for the applicant informed the court that annexure A2 is only a list of 107 vehicles, whereas the Government of NCT has around 3,000 vehicles plying on the road. Therefore, there may be many more such vehicles that are plying even after completion of their life. Several such vehicles are plying on the road without obtaining the PUC and these vehicles do not even have insurance.
The counsel mentioned the GRAP order, highlighting that the Commissioner or Head of Delhi-NCR is tasked with its implementation. He pointed to item 14 on page 168 of the schedule, indicating that both the Commissioner or Head of the Department of Delhi and the Commissioner or Head of the Traffic Police Department of Delhi are responsible for enforcing the Supreme Court and NGT orders regarding overage diesel / petrol vehicles. The counsel argued that the authorities meant to enforce the GRAP order are, in fact, breaching it themselves.
The NGT, December 16, 2024, directed notice to be issued to the concerned authorities. The court would next hear the case on February 20, 2025.
State governments should ensure that every construction worker affected by anti-pollution curbs is paid the subsistence allowance, the Supreme Court said December 12, 2024. This related to the payment of subsistence allowance to construction workers who could not get any income for the period from November 18-December 5, 2024.
Regarding the matter of the count of registered workers on the Delhi Building and Other Construction Worker Welfare Board's dashboard, the court remarked the following: “Whether it is a Delhi Government or the other Governments, the emphasis should not be only on registration but on ascertaining the actual number of workers who were deprived of income during this period,” said the court.
The SC directed all concerned state governments to file comprehensive affidavits dealing with this part of the compliance by January 3, 2025. The apex court made it clear that SC would continue to monitor this compliance till the court is satisfied that “every eligible worker has been paid the subsistence allowance”.
The order also dealt with the issue of ban on the use of firecrackers in the NCR states. The SC directed the concerned state governments to place their decision on record regarding a complete ban on use of firecrackers throughout the year. “The ban on firecrackers will be helpful not only to curb the air pollution but the noise pollution as well,” the SC said.
The ban on the use of firecrackers would also include the ban on manufacture, storage, sale and distribution of firecrackers, the court clarified.
Authorities which included the Chief Wildlife Warden, Assam was directed by NGT December 16, 2024 to file their response on the issue of endangered feral horses in Dibru-Saikhowa National Park, Assam.
Others who have to submit their reply included the National Biodiversity Authority; Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change; Wildlife Institute of India and Zoological Survey of India.
The respondents have been directed to file their response by way of affidavit before the eastern zonal bench of the NGT at least one week before the next date of hearing on February 27, 2025.
The application was registered suo-motu on the basis of the news item titled The Last Feral Horses in India appearing in Mongabay dated November 5, 2024.
The matter is related to the critically endangered status of the feral horses in the Dibru-Saikhowa National Park in Assam which have survived in the wild for nearly 80 years and the national park is the only place in India where these horses can be found. The article cited smuggling, habitat loss, shrinking grazing lands, floods and neglect by conservation authorities as the alleged causes behind the dwindling number of these horses.
The article stated that in 2020, the authorities allegedly apprehended a truck trying to smuggle six feral horses.
It quoted that since feral horses are not covered under the wildlife protection act, 1972, they are not considered wild animals. So, even upon arrest, getting a conviction becomes difficult.
Furthermore, there has been no regular census of the horses, which makes it challenging to ascertain their conservation status. It also highlighted that the frequent flooding of the Brahmaputra River not only damages the grazing grounds but also exacerbates the erosion of the park’s land, reducing space for the horses to survive.
The horses are also under threat from reduced biodiversity in their ecosystem, which further limits food availability. Apart from that, various human activities and cattle farms from nearby forest villages degrade their habitat. Conservationists argue that without urgent intervention, these unique animals face extinction, the article said.