All vehicles in IGI should ply on CNG: NGT

Only CNG-run vehicles will be allowed to ply in the Indira Gandhi International Airport (IGI) in six months from now, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) declared on Friday.

A Tribunal bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Swatanter Kumar asked the Delhi International Airport Ltd (DIAL) to ensure that all the coaches and buses and all "other vehicles" in the airport run on compressed natural gas (CNG).

The deadline for all such vehicles to embrace CNG is six months from now, the green court said. DIAL is a joint venture that operates, manages and develops the IGI Airport.

"All the coaches, buses and other vehicles plying at the airport should be CNG and must comply with the prescribed emission standards," Justice Kumar said.

"Non-CNG buses, coaches or other vehicles plying at the airport should be converted to CNG within six months from today," the bench added.

The court also ordered the use of green-wall technology to reduce noise pollution, as suggested by an IIT report. The green-wall technology uses vegetation to reduce the airborne noise.

NGT had earlier this year flagged the matter of noise-pollution near the IGI airport while reacting to a plea filed by people living nearby.

The NGT also suggested that airplanes should avoid using reverse-thrust while landing and asked the air carriers to instruct their pilots.

The sprawling IGI is located in one of the most polluted zones of the National Capital Region.

--IANS

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