Green Court issued notices to the central and Delhi governments over Tughlaqabad gas leak
The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Monday issued notices to the central and Delhi governments over the gas leak in Delhi's Tughlaqabad area last week in which over 450 students were hospitalised.
The Tribunal bench headed by Justice Swatanter Kumar, took suo moto cognisance of the May 6 incident and issued notices to the Union Environment Ministry, Delhi Government, Delhi Pollution Control Committee and the Container Corporation of India Ltd (Concor).
The Tribunal, which has been hearing a matter related to shifting the Inland Container Deport since 2016, asked why it should not initiate action against the depot.
"Why should we not shift you and ban all the vehicles entering the area," Justice Kumar asked.
On Saturday, noxious fumes leaking from chemical drums imported from China led to 475 students of two girls schools in south Delhi falling ill, with complaints of dizziness and headache.
The students from Rani Jhansi Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya and Government Girls Senior Secondary School, Number 2, were later rushed to hospitals. The schools were adjacent to the Tughlaqabad depot.
The chemical leaked from four drums containing chloro (methyl) phenylsilane, which was imported from China, and was enroute to Sonepat in Haryana.
Each drum contained 220 litres of the chemical, which is used in the manufacture of pesticides.
The Tribunal would club the matter with another similar one from 2016, where warehousing expert Ajay Khera had claimed that non-Delhi bound operations at the Tughlaqabad depot were contributing to alarming levels of air pollution in the city and therefore should be shifted.