Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal has directed the Transport Department to examine and submit its preliminary report by next week on the proposal of a transporters’ association to reduce air pollution in the Capital and decongest it.
A delegation of the Delhi Transporters’ Association proposed setting up of integrated freight complexes in the peripheral areas of the city to reduce air pollution and congestion in the inner areas in its meeting with Mr. Kejriwal and Transport Minister Gopal Rai here on Wednesday.
The transporters said they shared the State Government’s view about the deteriorating air quality in Delhi and the neighbouring National Capital Region. The transporters were asked to make optimum use of the existing facilities at Sanjay Gandhi Transport Nagar and in Punjabi Bagh.
According to the official sources, the repercussions of the National Green Tribunal’s order banning diesel vehicles which are more than 10 years old were also discussed in the meeting.
In their presentation, the transporters said they were willing to contribute towards making the Capital free of congestion, traffic jams and encroachment along with reduction in air pollution.
They pointed out that one of the options could be to move out wholesale trade and all types of godowns and booking activities from the inner areas of the city to its periphery in order to reduce heavy vehicular traffic from entering the city.
A reference was also made in this connection to a May 2004 verdict of the Delhi High Court, which had directed decongestion and suggested a number of solutions. The transporters’ made a request for installation of CCTV cameras in transport facilities available for them in the Capital for security reasons.
