Agra doctor moves green tribunal over air pollution
Jayashree Nandi TNN
New Delhi: Raising alarm bells over the adverse effect of air pollution on fetuses and newborns, a paediatric surgeon has moved the National Green Tribunal (NGT) seeking directions to the authorities to act against the scourge of our times.
Dr Sanjay Kulshresthra, the Agra-based petitioner, quotes a number of scientific studies indicating an increasing trend of low birth weight, pre-term deliveries and physical anomalies among babies in Indian cities.
On Monday, he urged NGT to issue a number of urgent directions to the government to reduce air pollution, including specifying the “road-life” of private and commercial vehicles and take measures to withdraw vehicles that had crossed this specified period.
He appealed for directions to permit a person to own just one personal four-wheeler and suggested that tax benefits be withdrawn for people going in for a second car. He also sought curbs on the sale of luxury cars and SUVs, and said a committee of experts should be formed to make guidelines on pollution in congested cities such as Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata.
Apart from the recent WHO air quality database that shows Delhi has the highest PM 2.5 (fine particle) levels, Kulshreshtra quotes a study from Newcastle University saying pregnant women in India exposed to vehicular pollution are significantly more likely to have smaller babies. “The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) added air pollution to Group 1 carcinogens, the same category under which tobacco, UV radiation and plutonium fall,” the petition states.
The government should provide free medical care to babies impacted by vehicular pollution, Sanjay Kulshresthra added.
“A significant number of personal four-wheelers are being used for luxury or for not so very important purposes and are probably the sideeffect of economic growth and high disposable incomes. Delhi adds roughly 1,400 new vehicles a day or 5 lakhs vehicles in a year – more than double of what was added in the pre-CNG period,” it states.
NGT has issued notices to all respondents including the ministries of environment, health, road transport, finance and women and child development. It also stated that ministry of petroleum was a necessary party in the case and so should also be served a notice.
The doctor urged NGT to issue urgent directions to the government