PARYAVARAN MITRA Vs. SECRETARY

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This writ petition is filed with the following prayers:

(2.) The petitioner is a Gujarat based non-profit organization and has been working on socio-environmental issues since 1997 and this petition is filed through advocate fighting for human rights in the face of growing environmental degradation and pollution.

(3.) On the averments made in this petition, an inquiry is called for based on an RTI application addressed to the Public Information Officer of Ahmedabad Janmarg Limited- Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation and Gujarat State Transport Department to supply details of number of BRTS buses plying on CNG based engine and reply was submitted that, out of 250 buses plying on the roads of Ahmedabad, none of them is having CNG based engine. According to the petitioner, such a reply is arbitrary and duty is cast upon State authorities under Article 51A(g) of the Constitution of India to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wildlife and to have compassion for living creatures. Even decisions of Hon'ble Apex Court reported in the case of N.C.Mehta Vs. Union of India, last in the line reported in (2016)4 Supreme Court Cases page 269 and also of Principal Bench of the National Green Tribunal, New Delhi in the case of Vardhman Kaushik Vs. Union of India and Ors. in Original Application No.21 of 2014 were relied on in the context of vehicle pollution in Delhi and National Capital Regions and other such metropolitan areas.