The National Green Tribunal (NGT) recently dismissed a petition by the Him Anchal Taxi Operators Union, Manali, seeking to increase the number of vehicles permitted to travel to Rohtang Pass.
A bench of Justices Adarsh Kumar Goel and Sudhir Agarwal, along with expert member Dr. A Senthil Veil, observed that the tribunal had already limited the number of vehicles to 1,000 per day due to the adverse impact on the glacier, environment, climate change, and carrying capacity of the area.
The Court found that the data on air quality submitted by the taxi operators union could not be used to argue that an increase in the number of vehicles would be sustainable.
It was also noted that the opening of the Atal Tunnel or the availability of parking spaces did not change the circumstances that prompted the imposition of restrictions.
“Data of air quality merely because of restricted number of vehicles situation is better cannot be ground to presume that increased number of vehicles will be sustainable. The opening of Atal Tunnel or availability of parking space does not change the situation which led to passing of earlier orders by this Tribunal,” the NGT asserted.
The taxi operators’ association had filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking to increase the limit on the maximum number of vehicles allowed to travel from Manali to Rohtang Pass from 1,000 to 5,000. They had argued that the opening of the Atal Tunnel in 2020, the availability of more parking space in Gulaba, Marhi, and Rohtang Pass, and the increase in tourism activities necessitated the increase in daily vehicle limit. The case was referred back to the NGT by the Supreme Court.
However, the NGT rejected the appeal, citing that the expert’s opinion on the matter could not be taken as conclusive evidence.
The NGT had initially set the cap based on a substantial amount of information gathered from the reports of other experts. Therefore, the Court held that the existing limit of 1,000 vehicles per day should remain in place.
