The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on May 21 asked the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) and the State Pollution Control Board (SPCB) to respond to an application regarding transportation of coal by road in the case of Ashwani Kumar Dubey v Union of India.

The NGT had accepted the suggestion of an Expert Committee on August 28, 2018 that coal should only be transported by railway wagons or a dedicated conveyer belt system and it should not be transported via road as it leads to dust pollution.

This application is sought to review the order mentioned above. It stated that preventing transportation of coal through road will lead to stoppage in power generation which will be against public interest.

A specific requirement in order to operate the order dated September 1, 2018 was that all internal roads should be pukka roads. However, it was not clear as to how many roads were made pukka after eight months of the condition imposed while granting consent to operate.

CPCB and SPCB are asked to furnish a report regarding the same and respond to this application.

The matter will be next heard on July 19, 2019.

—India Legal Bureau