National Green Tribunal seeks pollution info in 8 Indian states

Maharashtra, Karnataka, Bihar, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Telangana have to submit details on the ambient air quality, their vehicle parc with the diesel-petrol split and the population in cities with high pollution levels.

On May 29, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) has asked the chief secretaries of at least eight states in India to provide details of cities with the worst air pollution by today (May 31). The information is sought on the cities which have the worst air quality, their vehicle population with the diesel-petrol split, and the population in those cities.  

The states in question are Maharashtra, Karnataka, Bihar, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Punjab and Telangana.

The NGT was hearing an application seeking to extend a ban imposed on the sale of new diesel vehicles with a capacity of more than 2000cc to states and cities other than the national capital region (NCR). The Central Pollution Control Board has submitted a report on growing pollution levels in the cities of Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Kolkata, Patna, Lucknow, Allahabad, Kanpur, Varanasi, Nagpur, Chennai, Hyderabad, Ludhiana, Jalandhar and Amritsar.

As is known, since December 15, 2016, the Supreme Court banned the registration of new diesel-engined vehicles with a cubic capacity of more than 2000cc in Delhi-NCR. A ban has also been imposed in Kerala but now only on the sale of 10-year-old diesel vehicles. The ban has adversely impacted some automakers, particularly Toyota Kirloskar Motor and Mahindra & Mahindra.

Meanwhile, it was reported the finance minister Arun Jaitley, who is in Japan on a six-day visit, has called the ban on registration of diesel vehicles in the NCR a "transient phase". Speaking at an event in Tokyo, Jaitley told the Suzuki Motor Corporation that it is unlikely to be impacted given the overall large market share it has in India. Maruti Suzuki India has a 48.35% share in the passenger vehicle market and a commanding 53.20% share in passenger cars. "I think the Indian auto sector is extremely comfortably placed. This is all a transient phase which happens and I don't think that with the kind of large market that Suzuki has, it is in any way likely to be adversely affected," he is reported to have said.