Lieutenant-Governor Anil Baijal on Thursday sought a report from the Delhi government over alleged non-utilisation of ₹1,002 crore collected as environment compensation charge (ECC).
“The L-G has desired that a report in the matter through the Minister [Transport], GNCTD, be submitted expeditiously for his perusal,” Special Secretary to L-G R. N. Sharma said in a letter to the Transport Commissioner.
The direction came after a memorandum was submitted by Delhi Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Manoj Tiwari and Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Delhi Legislative Assembly Vijender Gupta, requesting an inquiry into “non-utilisation or misuse of government money of environment cess to the tune of ₹1,002 crore.”
Mr. Tiwari and Mr. Gupta had called on the L-G on November 16 and urged him to seek a report from the Delhi government on the ECC and direct it to procure 8,000 new buses with the fund.
Earlier this month, the Delhi government had been criticised for non-utilisation of over ₹1,000 crore collected as ECC till November 10, when the city was grappling with air pollution crisis. This was followed by an announcement by the government that it was in the process of procuring 500 electric buses.
