ON THE SIDE of every bus operated by the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) is the signage "The world’s largest eco- friendly bus", highlighting the fact that the DTC fleet does not any more operate on diesel, but on environment-friendly compressed natural gas. It wasn’t always so. Till, early 2002, DTC operate its 10,000 bus fleet on diesel and so did the many private operators in the city. The story of the switchover to CNG for public transport in Delhi goes back to 1985 when lawyer and environmental activist M C Mehta filed a public-interest litigation before the Supreme Court against the failure of the government to protect the environment. The court then passed a series of orders to reduce harmful emissions, but getting them implemented took several years of maintaining pressure on the government.
The Environment Pollution and Control Authority (EPCA) — better known as the Bhure Lal committee — formed after a court order, played a key role. Its advice was that taxis and autos should switch to clean fuel, that buses older than eight years be banned and, most importantly, that the entire bus fleet should shift to CNG by March 31, 2001. The Supreme Court adopted the EPCA’s recommendations in its order on July 28, 1998. For two-and-a-half years, following that order, little happened beyond a CNG bus trial. Then, in January 2001, bus operators sought an extension for conversion to CNG, claiming that the
technology was untested and that CNG filling stations were not available in adequate numbers. However, in spite of numerous attempts to scuttle the process, the entire fleet of buses was eventually converted to CNG.
By filing landmark public interest petitions, first to protect the Taj Mahal, then to reduce pollution in Delhi by insisting on the use of CNG and now recently by approaching the Supreme Court against the rampant commercialization of residential areas of Delhi in active connivance of the Municipal Corporation, M C Mehta has shown the road — that changes can some times be made through advocacy — which is a combination of skill, tact, persistence, grit and determination. Anybody who reads newspapers in Delhi, cannot but notice the notifications issued by various organs of the government from time to time in pursuance of court directives in response to the petitions — M CMehta Vs the Union of India.
For 15 years, Mehta has showed how courts can preserve and restore clean air and water for millions of people who have long suffered from uncontrolled pollution that threatened health and even lives. He has challenged the government and thousands of industries in court. Mehta has been called a "green messiah" by some and a meddling devil by others. But no one doubts the man’s impact. "He has changed the country," says Menaka Gandhi, Former Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests. "Before M. C. Mehta, not many people believed that the system worked."
While India has had laws protecting the environment, they weren’t being enforced satisfactorily. Mehta’s law suites, on the other hand, are based on the article in the constitution, which guarantees the right to life. The Supreme Court has broadened the clause to include the right to a healthy environment, one that doesn’t threaten life. Incidentally, while Mehta won the Ramon Magsaysay award for Public service as far back as 1997 as well as other international awards, he hasn’t won in India — even the Padma Shree — a telling comment perhaps on the importance given to environmental activism in India.
From: http://www.merinews.com/article/cng-delhi-saved-hero-forgotten/123569.shtml
