The National Green Tribunal (NGT) recently dismissed a petition by the Himachal Taxi Operators Union, to increase the number of vehicles permitted to travel to Rohtang Pass on a daily basis.
A bench of Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel and Justice Sudhir Agarwal along with expert member Dr A Senthil Veil, noted that the tribunal had previously limited the number of vehicles to 1,000 per day due to the adverse impact on the glacier, climate change, the environment, and carrying capacity of the area.
The tribunal stated that data on air quality presented by the taxi operators union cannot be used to assume that more vehicles could be sustainable simply because of limited vehicles. It also stated that the opening of the Atal Tunnel or the availability of parking space had no effect on the situation that had led to 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 stated.
The taxi operators union requested that the limit on vehicles traveling from Manali to Rohtang Pass be increased from 1,000 to 5,000. In order to do so, they moved the Apex Court for a modification of the NGT’s orders establishing the cap. The Supreme Court remanded the case to the NGT.
The union argued that because of the opening of the Atal Tunnel in 2020, the availability of more parking space in Gulaba, Marhi, and Rohtang pass, and increased tourism activities, the cap should be raised to 5,000 vehicles per day. It based its decision on the advice of an expert in this field.
However, the NGT determined that the expert’s opinion could not be considered conclusive because it had passed the order prescribing the existing cap based on a large amount of material based on reports from other experts. As a result, it rejected the plea.
