The Southern Bench of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has given the Kerala government three months to come up with a proper action plan on making the State pollution-free.
The Bench of Justice K. Ramakrishnan and 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 October 7.
“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 and the action taken by the Motor Vehicles Department to phase out those old vehicles as per the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 and to convert the same to green and 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,” said the order issued on June 15.
Air quality
The tribunal had asked 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 and Kannur, to identify the sources of pollution and recommend short-term and long-term measures for improving the air quality. The tribunal had observed that lorries and trucks more than 10 years old were the main culprits in the rising air pollution level in Kerala.
