SDMC moves Supreme Court to register diesel garbage pick-up trucks

These are required to transport garbage from dhalaos to landfills, in mechanical road sweeper machines and super sucker machines to clean drains.

The South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) has moved the Supreme Court (SC) seeking urgent directions for the registration of 86 of its Bharat Standard (BS)-IV-compliant diesel vehicles which the National Green Tribunal had dismissed in two earlier orders.

The vehicles are required to transport garbage from dhalaos to landfills and to clean drains. (burhaan kinu/HT FILE)

These are required to transport garbage from dhalaos to landfills, in mechanical road sweeper machines and super sucker machines to clean drains. All the vehicles have engines of above 2000 cubic capacity (cc), which the NGT and SC had banned in 2015 citing rising pollution in the Delhi-NCR. The SDMC’s appeal in the apex court comes after the NGT dismissed its pleas to engage the diesel vehicles in orders passed in July 2018 and again on 16 January, 2019.

A senior SDMC official said, “The orders regarding diesel vehicles by NGT were passed in the Vardhman Kaushik case. Earlier, we used to file impleadments in the court to allow us to register diesel vehicles above 2000cc as an exception, as these are to be used in essential servicers.”

“But once the Vardhman Kaushik case was disposed by the court in July 2018, we had no means to approach the court to allow us these vehicles. Our applications henceforth have all been dismissed,” he said.

A senior engineer with the SDMC also said they had explored all petrol and CNG vehicle options that can serve the same purpose, but that there are no alternatives. “Only diesel vehicles above 2000cc have the kind of torque and horsepower to ride over landfills, suck sewage out of drains and dust from roads. We urgently need to hire 22 hook loaders, 26 refuse compactors, six mechanical road sweepers, six super sucker machines, etc. which can only be carried by heavy diesel vehicles,” he said.

Other officials also said the NGT’s refusal to allow them to register diesel vehicles is coming in the way of municipalities carrying out their duties pertaining to the Solid Waste Management Rules 2016. At least 70 newly-procured diesel vehicles of the north and east Delhi municipal corporations are lying idle for the same reason.