‘ Contempt of SC orders by DelhiCM’

Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta on Wednesday said that the Kejriwal government has committed contempt of orders issued by Supreme Court by Supreme Court by not using the collected Environmental Compensation Charge ( ECC).

Mr Gupta claimed that the purpose of imposing ECC on the orders of apex court was to make resources available in order to control pollution in the capital so that the public transport system could be improved and dependability on use of personal vehicles is minimised.

“Vacuum cleaners to reduce dust particles and equipments such as air purifiers to clean the air could have been purchased,” he said.

“The Municipal Corporations of Delhi ( MCDs) collect around ` 1.5 crore daily for the government as the ECC charges, but the city government has not only committed contempt of apex court orders, but also has forced the people of the capital to inhale poisonous air despite availability of huge funds to reduce pollution in the city, Mr Gupta added.

As many as 11,000 buses were required for public transport fleet in the capital, but, surprisingly, the government has failed to purchase even a single new bus during the past three years,” added Mr Gupta.

The opposition leader pointed out that chief minister Arvind Kejriwal talks about meeting with his counterparts of Punjab and Haryana and never tires of accusing the Union government for not doing anything to contain pollution.

It quite unfortunate that his government has not taken any effective steps to curb pollution so far.

“It is even more unfortunate that when the top court has imposed the ECC charges on the people of the capital to inhale pure air. Though the people are paying ` 500 crores every year towards this purpose, they are still forced to breathe poisonous air,” he said.

The Leader of Opposition also alleged that the Aam Aadmi Party ( AAP) government, which came to power in the name of common man, never talks about their issues, for which they are answerable to them.

◗ The objective of ECC was to make resources available to control pollution in the capital and to improve the public transport system, said the Leader of Opposition in the Delhi Assembly