New Delhi: Taxi operators on Wednesday rushed to the National Green Tribunal seeking reconsideration of its directions limiting the entry of all diesel and petrol tourist vehicles in Himachal Pradesh's Rohtang Pass till August 14 to 1,000 per day.
The move comes a day after the Supreme Court declined to stay the directions and asking the affected parties to address their grievances before the green tribunal which agreed to hear it tomorrow.
The matter was mentioned before a bench headed by judicial member UD Salvi by a counsel for taxi operators union saying in compliance with the Supreme Court they are approaching the tribunal and due to urgency in matter he requested for urgent hearing of the plea today itself.
"It's an urgent matter as the directions of tribunal would cause irreparable loss to the taxi operators and moreover as it is a peak tourist season in the area, the order would also cause great inconvenience to them," the counsel said.
The bench, however, asked the counsel to file the plea before the registry and it will consider it tomorrow.
The Supreme Court yesterday had only stayed one direction of the green panel that all vehicles would be subjected to pollution checks and should get certificates at the check post to comply with BS-IV standards before being allowed to operate in the scenic Rohtang Pass area.
The 13,050 feet pass links the Kullu Valley to the remote district of Lahaul and Spiti.
The taxi operators have got support from the Himachal Pradesh government in the apex court which said there were lot of problems in complying with the directives of the NGT and sought stay on certain directions.
However, the apex court had observed that "when such steps are taken there will be a hue and cry" and cited an example of SC order directing the implementation of CNG operated public transport system in national capital.
The apex court's vacation bench, while asking the taxi operators to approach the NGT, had noted that they were not heard properly before it as they had made an oral plea before it.
Him-Aanchal Taxi Operators Union had submitted that the NGT order was coming in the way of not only taxi operators but also the middle-class tourists. On the direction of the green panel that all vehicles should be subjected to pollution check and get certificates at the check posts to comply with BS-IV standards, the taxi union through their counsel had said such fuel was not available in any petrol pump in the state.
Rohtang is a 13,050 feet high mountain pass on the eastern Pir Panjal Range of the Himalayas around 51 km from Manali and acts as the gateway to the remote district of Lahaul and Spiti from the picturesque Kullu Valley.
The NGT in its earlier order had restricted the number of vehicles passing through Rohtang Pass for tourism purposes to 600 petrol and 400 diesel per day on first-come, first-serve basis and directed that each vehicle allowed would pay an environmental cess.
The NGT has said the amount thus collected would be kept in the account under a separate head by the state government and utilised only for the purpose of restoring ecology and environment.
It had also directed the state government to post a team of police, transport and other departments at Vashisht and Gulaba areas between Manali and Rohtang with complete infrastructure and machinery.
Each vehicle, which carries more than six passengers, would be liable to pay compensation of Rs 5,000 as environmental compensation for single entry.
NGT had also directed the state to take all requisite steps and call a meeting of manufacturers and suppliers for supplying CNG vehicles to ensure that there was least pollution in the eco-sensitive area of Rohtang Pass.
