As Capital chokes, AAP govt sits on ₹829cr green fund
LYING UNUSED Delhi govt spent only ₹93 lakh from money collected as ‘environment compensation charge’
NEWDELHI: At a time when Delhi’s pollution levels have triggered a public health emergency, the Arvind Kejriwal government is sitting on an unutilised “green tax” worth hundreds of crores of rupees meant for augmenting public transport.
It spent only ₹93 lakh of the ₹829 crore it collected as ‘environment compensation charge’ from goods vehicles entering the city, according to documents accessed by HT. The money had to be spent on roads and transport, as directed by the Supreme Court.
When asked about the unspent money, the government said it was never short of funds, and blamed the Centre for not giving enough land for parking.
Delhi’s total bus fleet is 5,425 against a sanctioned strength of 11,000.
NEWDELHI :At a time when Delhi’s pollution levels have triggered a public health emergency, the Arvind Kejriwal government is sitting on an unutilised “green tax” worth hundreds of crores of rupees meant for augmenting public transport.
The Delhi government spent only ₹93 lakh of the ₹829 crore it collected as ‘environment compensation charge’ from goods vehicles entering the city, documents accessed by Hindustan Times show. The amount was collected between November 6, 2015 and November 1, 2017. The Supreme Court had directed the Delhi government in 2015 that all money collected from cess levied on goods vehicles must be spent on roads, public transport, and cycle tracks.
An RTI filed by a Delhi resident, Sanjeev Jain – whose findings were made public on Wednesday – revealed that the Delhi government had collected ₹787 crore until September 30 this year. An updated document accessed by HT showed that the collections had gone up by another ₹42 crore until the beginning of this month.
The South Delhi Municipal Corporation, which collects the green tax and sends the money to the state transport department, charges ₹700 for light-duty and two-axle vehicles and ₹1,300 for three-axle vehicles.
In addition, another ₹500 crore collected as cess on every litre of diesel sold since 2008, is also lying unspent. There had been no direction given to the government on how to spend this money.
Delhi’s total bus fleet is 5,425 against a sanctioned strength of 11,000 as mandated by the Delhi high court. Each standard-floor bus costs about ₹45 lakh. The Delhi government had to roll back its decision to implement the odd-even road rationing scheme, citing the lack of buses for exemptions that had been struck down by the National Green Tribunal.
Asked why the money had not been spent, the government said it was never short of funds when it came to buying buses. Instead, a government spokesman blamed the Centre for not giving it enough land for parking. “This fund can only be spent according to strict SC guidelines. Delhi government has never cited shortage of funds for public transport, but we had other constraints in procuring buses. The Delhi Development Authority is not giving us land for bus depots. You cannot splurge funds irrationally,” said Nagendar Sharma, media advisor to the chief minister.
Calling the revelations a contempt of court, the leader of opposition in the Delhi assembly, Vijender Gupta of the BJP said the government has forced the people of Delhi to breathe poisonous air. “The money could have been used to improve public transport. Vacuum cleaners to reduce dust could have been purchased,” Gupta said.
E-BUSES
Facing flak from the Opposition, the government on Wednesday evening announced it would use some of the “green tax” funds on buying 500 electric buses.
Experts, however, said that e-buses were not the solution for Delhi’s immediate problems because they were harder to procure. “The majority of buses in Delhi in the short- to mediumterm will have to be CNG-powered,” said Shreya Gaddepalli, regional director of the Institute for Transportation and Development Policy, an NGO that works on public transport policies.
A senior government official said thee 500 low-floor, air-conditioned e-buses would be procured within a year.“Transport minister Kailash Gahlot had met Delhi Multi Modal Transit System (DIMTS) officials over the matter on Tuesday,” the official said.