The Arvind Kejriwal govt is believed to have collected around Rs 1,800 cr till September 2018, but Delhi is yet to get new buses.
New Delhi: The winter months are back with the suffocating blanket of smog that has now become a Delhi fixture, but crucial steps that can help check the capital’s notorious pollution problem continue to hang fire.
A fund running into hundreds of crores of rupees is reportedly lying untapped with the Delhi government even as the capital awaits buses that could boost public transport and ease traffic and cut vehicular emissions, a major source of Delhi’s pollution.
Three years ago, the Supreme Court introduced an ‘environment compensation charge (ECC)’ for the largely diesel-powered commercial goods vehicles that pass through Delhi on their way across the country.
The charge decided was Rs 700 for light-duty and two-axle vehicles, and Rs 1,300 for three-axle vehicles, with the Supreme Court saying the money collected should be spent on roads, public transport and cycle tracks.
The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which took office in Delhi the same year with a resounding mandate, said it would use the ECC collections to buy more buses for the bustling metropolis. But the money, collected from all four municipal corporations and sent to the Delhi Transport department, is lying unused.
Delhi’s public bus strength remains around half the ideal two months before a Supreme Court deadline to boost the number from around 5,500 to 10,000 ends on 31 December. There have been no new buses added to Delhi’s roads since 2010.
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