The Supreme Court on Thursday asked the Centre to draft a plan to save the seven most polluted cities in the country, namely Ahmedabad, Kanpur, Lucknow, Hyderabad, Solapur, Chennai and Mumbai.
The air pollution figures produced by the Central Pollution Control Board were alarming, and the deadlines set for clearing the air in the cities had passed without any improvement, the judges observed.
The air in Delhi has dramatically improved, according to pollution control board figures. The Bench, headed by Chief Justice V N Khare, asked the government to submit the plan within two months.
The court was monitoring an air pollution case moved by M C Mehta. The judges and court-appointed counsel Harish Salve expressed satisfaction at the sharp drop in air pollution levels in various parts of the capital.
Salve said the price of CNG should be kept at a competitive level, particularly below that of diesel. He complained that the Petroleum Regulatory Bill was "wishy-washy" regarding CNG, which did not even find a mention.
Therefore, the government should be asked to specify CNG and protect it from price variations, instead of including it in the omnibus term of natural gas. The court asked the government to respond to this request.
On the passage of goods vehicles through Delhi, the court asked the state government and the police commissioner to state within two weeks as to why trucks which did not carry goods for the capital were allowed to use the city roads.
The court had passed an order two years ago banning such traffic.
Before a different Bench, headed by Justice Y K Sabharwal, Essar, Reliance, Parle and a number of other companies complained that their gas quotas had been sharply cut because of the order to give priority to the transport sector in Delhi.
They claimed that they were in the priority sectors like power and fertilisers.
The Reliance counsel said the cuts had not been proportionate or rational. The Bench set the date for a full hearing two weeks from now.