SC to hear plea seeking relaxation of pet coke, furnace oil ban

The Supreme Court will hear on Monday a plea by manufacturers association in Rajasthan's Bhiwadi seeking relaxation of its order banning the use of pet coke and furnace oil in the NCR region of Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.

The bench headed by Justice J. Chelameswar directed the listing of the application by Bhiwadi Manufacturers Association seeking relaxation of ban order so that they could shift to alternate fuel for their manufacturing activities.

The matter was mentioned by lawyer Sharmila Upadhyaya, who told the court that applicants are seeking more time to switch over to an alternate fuel for carrying on with their manufacturing activities.

The top court by its October 24 order had banned the use of pet coke and furnace oil, which are banned in Delhi, in the NCR too.

It had also imposed a Rs 2 lakh fine on the Environment Ministry for not fixing emission norms of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide for 34 categories of industries operating in NCR.

Seeking more time to switch over to alternate fuel, the Bhiwadi Manufacturers Association, claiming to represent 400 to 500 industries operating on pet coke and furnace oil, said that they would get severely affected by the sudden ban.

It has sought "clemency" of the court on the ground of equity so that no injustice was done to thousands of workers who are directly or indirectly employed in the industries in Bhiwadi industrial area.

--IANS

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