Contemptible laxity
On April 4, 2001, Environment Pollution (Prevention and Control) Authority (EPCA) members met P Shankar, then secretary, ministry of petroleum and natural gas (MPNG), to discuss the long lines at CNG filling stations and requesting improvements in the supply of CNG in Delhi. Shankar informed EPCA members that he had never expected that the number of vehicles to go up so much despite the court order. The MPNG had only buses in mind while planning CNG supply infrastructure and such a large number of CNG autos and taxis were never considered.
This was despite the fact that the Supreme Court order of July 28, 1998 had clearly instructed that 80 CNG outlets be established by March 2001. These stations were obviously not only for buses. Shankar claimed that he was advised by their lawyer against informing the court that enough gas was not available as this would be interpreted as an attempt to subvert the July 28, 1998, CNG order of the court. Instead, Shankar advocated diesel with 0.05 per cent sulphur and Euro II diesel technology instead of CNG. He claimed that these fuels would reduce emissions by 70 per cent from Euro I level. Further improvement would not have any substantive effect on emissions. EPCA wanted to know why IGL, which had attended EPCA meetings for weeks at an end, had not even once mentioned the issue of shortage of gas or why the ministry itself had not informed the EPCA? There was no answer.