Order

Realising the urgency and importance of protection and improvement of the environment, this Court has given directions from time to time and impressed upon the authorities to take urgent steps to tackle the acute problem of vehicular pollution in Delhi. Assurances have been held out to the Court through various affidavits filed by the compe­tent officers that effective steps shall be taken in a phased manner within a specified time span. Inspite of the matter having engaged the attention of this Court for a long time and lengthy debates on each hearing, precious little appear to have been done by the State Admin­istration to check and control the vehicular pollution. We are rather distressed at this apathy of the State Administration, when according to the White Paper published by the Government of India, the vehicular pollution contributes 70% of the air pollution as compared to 20% in 1970. In the White Paper published by the Government of India, a dead line of 1st April, 1998 had been proposed for implementation of major actions. No concrete steps have however, been taken till date in spite of the assurances held out in the affidavit dated November 18, 1996.

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