New Delhi: A plea by carrier IndiGo against the order by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) banning spray of disinfectants in aircraft loaded with passengers was junked by the authority.
Headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel, the bench said that the tribunal has already rejected the plea by Indigo Airlines as it noted that not a single out of all respondents were able to show that such sprays are not injurious to human health.
“It is clear that the prayer made in the present application is in the nature of review which has already been rejected. The observation while rejecting review cannot in any manner be treated as permission to seek review by changing the label.
“Any order which may now be passed by this Tribunal accepting such prayers will be in conflict with the order passed on August 3, 2015. Accordingly, this application is dismissed,” the bench said.
The budget airline in its plea had sought modification of the direction issued on August 3, 2015, to the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA). The direction was to ensure that no process of a disinfectant fumigation is carried out inside a plane when any person is inside it.
The NGT had in last year, refused to modify the said direction about banning of sprays of disinfectants inside any aircraft when passengers are on board, and after this the petition was filed, to which the board said that there was no “apparent error” in its earlier order.
The tribunal did not agree over the plea to review its August 2015 order and rejected the submission that said that it does not cause harm to human health, when permethrin is sprayed inside the plane at a time when the passengers are on board.
However, it had allowed liberty to the airline to file a plea “if the applicant has any substantial question to be raised relating to environment or enforcement of any legal right relating to environment in the facts and circumstances of the case”.
As per the plea filed by InterGlobe Aviation Ltd-run IndiGo, the airports that were reported to be most affected by mosquito problem are — Kolkata, Lucknow, Patna, Guwahati, Delhi, Raipur, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Bengaluru, Pune, Dehradun and Bhubaneswar.
Indigo asserted in its plea that the reason for the need to spray disinfectant was due to the spiraling growth in dengue and malaria cases with the onset of monsoons and also due to the “blanket ban”, they were not able to take any kind of step for the protection and safety of its passengers.
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