The Supreme Court on Tuesday extended the deadline for all taxis in the national capital region to convert to CNG mode from March 1 to March 31 and directed the Centre to set up 104 gas stations in t
The Supreme Court on Tuesday extended the deadline for all taxis in the national capital region to convert to CNG mode from March 1 to March 31 and directed the Centre to set up 104 gas stations in ten districts of NCR.
A bench headed by Chief Justice T.S. Thakur also asked the ministry of petroleum and natural gas to set up CNG filling stations in 10 districts of Uttar Pradesh and Haryana which fall under the national capital region.
The direction came when it was pointed out that the commercial vehicles, which will have to be converted to CNG mode, will face shortage of CNG stations in the region.
The bench said the process of setting of CNG stations should be completed by March 31 for smooth functioning of the public transport system.
The bench passed the order after taking on record a submission that the issue of supply of CNG came before the EPCA meeting on December 19 and all stake holders including Haryana government had expressed their readiness to meet all requirements for the purpose.
The Supreme Court also asked the Delhi government to increase the number of buses it is plying to 10,000 and ensure their proper maintenance in order to improve the public transportation system.
The court passed the directions after amicus curiae Harish Salve said the apex court’s July 27, 1998, order to the Delhi government to augment the bus fleet from 5,000 to 10,000 has not been complied with. He submitted that the Delhi government has not taken any step for implementation of the order and, as a result, public transport is in a “poor state of affairs”.
“We direct the government of NCT to comply with the directions to augment the bus fleet. The NCT government will take steps for providing additional buses and serious implementation of the order for bus augmentations,” the bench, also comprising Justices A.K. Sikri and R. Banumathi, said. On the submissions made by the Delhi government that there has been lack of space for bus parking as the possession of 45 acres of land out of 78 acres allotted by the DDA has not been delivered, the apex court said “there is no reason as to why the land allocated for the purpose be not handed over.”
