The Supreme Court has imposed an ‘Environment Compensation Charge’ (ECC) on commercial vehicles entering from neighbouring states, which are passing through the National Capital Region (NCR) to Delhi in addition to the toll tax. The court has ordered that this rule will get into the act from November 1 on a trial basis. It is an initial attempt by the court to check high pollution levels in the city. The charges would be payable at the rates of Rs 700 for light duty vehicles and two-axle vehicles and Rs 1,300 for three-axle and above.

The trucks that are entering Delhi will have to pay an entry charge of Rs. 1300 at the initial point of entry. However, it is a good news as the court has taken a major initiative so as to recognise the criticality of the environmental conditions in Delhi. Currently, the air in the city has become utmost polluted and definitely, significant steps need to be taken to clean up the atmosphere in Delhi. As the government in its whole is not making a move, the zenith court has taken an initiative, firing the first shot.

Major Entities Involved to Implement the Apex Court’s Order

Supreme Court has passed its order imposing environment charge on commercial vehicles and this must be implemented starting November 1. Major entities are involved in this keen decision by the apex court to clean up the Delhi atmosphere. the court has just passed its order and now, it is the responsibility of other major sectors to implement its decision. The major entities involve the following:

• Delhi Government
• Municipal Corporation of Delhi
• New Delhi Municipal Council
• Delhi Police
• Delhi Check-Post Authorities

But, none of the them implemented this on the first day of this month. First of all, no one is actually prepared with a plan and none of them took a step ahead to accept the responsibility to implement the Supreme Court’s order. Even, there is no hint that any Delhi authority has taken the initiative to invite the others to prepare an action plan. Thousands of trucks continued to enter the national capital, Delhi for the second successive day on November 2 without having to pay the ” environment tax” imposed by the Supreme Court. This is because, the Municipal Corporation has failed to implement the order aimed at improving the fast deteriorating air quality.

No one Takes the Responsibility

Apart from this implementation, has anyone calculated the impact on prices of daily commodities in Delhi? Why had the court just levied ECC on trucks that enter Delhi borders  and not with cargo meant for Delhi? Such matters may be completely executive in nature, but how about the sagacity of the judiciary to issue peremptory orders without considering the remaining sequential steps? The court simply levies its orders and at the end of the day, it become an utter failure by the executive. This totally shows the incumbent on the judiciary to take its own decision without considering all the other operational problems in implementation.

The major department that is responsible implement this is the environment ministry. But, we haven’t heard a single word from the Environment Ministry on this matter. Is it to be left to the Coimbatore Municipal Corporation or the state government of Tripura to convene national meetings to address the approach to a large national problem. It is surprising that the ministry undeviatingly charged with regulating our environment is awfully quiet in this regard.

Delhi annually has a 0.5 per cent increase in road capacity, but its vehicle population increases by 7 per cent. Even a secondary schoolchild could calculate the damage that will take place to the city air, and traffic jam potential in the capital’s arteries. Many other major cities are facing the same situation alike Delhi.

One need to understand the anger, frustration, and need for action exhibited by the apex Court. Certainly, this is the viewpoint of most introspective people in the country. Before passing orders, the court has to resort to staccato decision-making which shows an index of the failure by the executive. Even it is an oversight of the government of India which has not reacted to this extreme step. This purely indicated that the Supreme Court is obliged to start an executive arena that shows the real woeful situation of our governance system.