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LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Manali tourism pollution tax reaches SC

Manali tourism pollution tax reaches SC

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published Published on May 21, 2015   modified Modified on May 21, 2015
-The Telegraph

New Delhi: The Supreme Court will tomorrow examine two National Green Tribunal orders that slapped "environmental compensation" fees on diesel and petrol tourist vehicles travelling between Manali and Rohtang and restricted the number of tourist vehicles to 1,000 a day in this Himachal stretch.

Besides the fees - Rs 2,500 on diesel vehicles and Rs 1,000 on those that run on petrol - the tribunal had also imposed an additional fee of Rs 5,000 on each tourist vehicle carrying more than six passengers.

It had also asked the Himachal Pradesh government to allow only CNG- or battery-operated tourist vehicles on this stretch, ostensibly to curb high levels of pollution in the hill state.

The vacation bench of Justices A.K. Sikri and U.U. Lalit was initially reluctant to take up the matter, but agreed to examine the orders after senior counsel Vibha Makhija said the decision would affect thousands of tourist operators and those who depend on the industry for a living.

An association of Himachal taxi operators had challenged the NGT's February 2 and May 5 orders, saying they were not only "unrealistic" but also "discriminatory" as private, government and army vehicles had been spared such fees.

Mega power and industrial projects have also been spared punitive action despite being the main pollutants, the petitioner contended.

The bench said there must be "some reasons for imposing" the orders. "You are a tourist, they (the government, local residents and the army) are not going to pay for it. Anyway, we will examine it," Justice Sikri said, posting the petition filed by the Himachal Taxi Operators for further hearing to Thursday.

Earlier, on February 2, the NGT had banned tourist vehicles that run on diesel or petrol from plying between Manali and Rohtang with a directive to the state government to allow only CNG/battery operated vehicles on this stretch.

Following a request from the state to modify the directives, the NGT, on May 5, kept in abeyance its orders till August 14, subject to the condition that the "environmental compensation" amount was collected.

The NGT said the amount collected would have to be kept in a separate account by the state government and utilised only for restoring the ecology of the eco-sensitive area, according to tribunal's directive.

The tribunal also refused to lift the 1,000-vehicle-a-day cap.

In its petition, the taxi association said the directives were "arbitrary, illegal, unconstitutional and whimsical" and "far more onerous and injurious" to local residents, "more specifically the tourists operators".

The directives, it said, would result in "manifest injustice to the lower strata of locals, depriving them of seasonal earnings, whereas the damage caused to the environment is by execution of mega projects".

The directives, therefore, had "no corrective advantage", the petition said.

As for CNG/battery-operated vehicles, the petition said the state government "has failed to get... tests... conducted so far" on such vehicles, while "CNG operators/manufacturers are not convinced as to the use of CNG in high altitude/lower temperature areas".

"Resultantly, there are no CNG/battery vehicles. The tourist season is about to begin and the ban on plying of diesel vehicles is going to adversely affect the appellant," the petition said.

The Telegraph, 20 May, 2015, http://www.telegraphindia.com/1150521/jsp/nation/story_21284.jsp#.VV1_GUZr9v0


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