National Green Tribunal (NGT) Thursday passed a number of directions including setting up of centralised and state level monitoring committees to prepare action plans to address the issue of pollution and asking four northern states to consider banning old diesel vehicles, in an attempt to address the environment emergencies.
Describing as “severe” levels of pollution when PM 10 and PM 2.5 are above 431 and 251 in the ambient air, the bench asked Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana and Rajasthan to consider banning 10-year-old diesel vehicles from plying on the roads.
The NGT directed that every state committee should, in their first meeting, notify one district where land use of agriculture is high and make it a model district for implementing orders to stop stubble burning.
The bench said that in such situations, helicopters should be used to sprinkle water in the Delhi-NCR region, especially in those areas where pollution levels are in excess of the prescribed standard limits.