The Kerala government is readying to move Supreme Court against the National Green Tribunal (NGT)’s order to impose ban on old diesel vehicles. The state fears the public transport and inter-state traffic of goods and people will be acutely disrupted by the move.
The circuit bench of NGT in Kochi had banned light and heavy diesel vehicles with engines above 2000cc and over 10 years old in Thiruvananthapuram, Kollam, Kochi, Thrissur, Kozhikode and Kannur.State transport commissioner, Tomin J Thachankary held discussion with chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday. The Kerala High Court will hear a plea on this issue next week.
The government’s move comes in the wake of reports that by the order, 50% of the vehicles now plying on the roads have to be taken off the roads. On the luxury car segment, Mahindra and Toyota are expected to be worst affected.
The implementation of the order would affect about one-fifth of the vehicle sales, according to John K Paul, president, Kerala Automobile Dealers Association.
What has disturbed the state government the most is that the order would affect 25% of the public transport system in the State. “We completely agree to the concern of environmental impact from fuel emissions that NBT has pointed out,” Tomin Thanchankary told FE.
In the appeal, the government would highlight that the move would create a major crisis in the state, restricting the workplace movement of the common man and affecting the free movement of essential goods. About 50,000-60,000 lorries ply between Tamil Nadu and Kerala every day, to bring vegetables, meat, eggs and other groceries to the state. Out of these, 30,000-40,000 were over 10 years old.
