Abysmal performance
Ministry of Environment and Forests (MEF)
Responsible for implementation of environmental laws in the country, the MEF chose to turn a blind eye to the adverse effects of diesel emission on human health and environment. Instead it disagreed with the proposal made by the Environment Pollution Control Authority (EPCA) to ban private diesel cars.
Ministry of Surface Transport (MOST)
MOST held up the conversion process to compressed natural gas (CNG) as it failed to notify the procedure for testing and certification for more than two years. Only a month before the deadline, MOST issued very ambiguous CNG norms. All that it says is that CNG vehicles must conform to the existing Euro emission norms meant for petrol and diesel vehicles.
Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC)
The DTC failed to place orders for new CNG buses and for conversion of old buses on time. Moreover, it informed the private bus owners about the Supreme Court (SC) directive only in October 1999.
Gas Authority of India Ltd (GAIL)
Indraprastha Gas Limited (IGL), a division of GAIL, set up only 20 CNG stations - of which 12 are functioning - as against the 80 directed by the SC. They claim that the remaining eight stations are ready to dispense CNG, but they have not received the appropriate licenses to do so. IGL also claims that all the requisite equipment for dispensation have been imported and is lying unused because either land has not been allotted or the site was changed after being allotted.
The Delhi government
The state administration failed to implement financial incentive schemes to encourage the owners of old autos and taxis to convert to CNG on time. Although companies were ready with the technology and owners agreeable to conversion without financial incentives, the plan could not be implemented. They also failed to provide adequate and appropriate sites to establish CNG refilling stations.