The National Green Tribunal (NGT) four-panel committee has recommended a penalty of Rs 171.34 crore on automaker Volkswagen due to the health damages caused by the air pollution because of excessive emission of nitrogen oxide (NOx) in Delhi.
The expert committee formed by NGT stated “Estimated cost of health damage due to additional NOx emissions from the Volkswagen group vehicles is approximately Rs 171.34 crore using a metro city i.e Delhi as a base. The value may be considered conservative due to lack of methodologies for calculating the overall impact of nitrogen oxide on the environment in India and hence only health damages are valued.”
The four-panel committee also estimated that approximately 48.678 tonnes of NOx were released by Volkswagen cars in 2016 in Delhi. The committee in its report added, “Further the valuation is for Delhi city considering that the value of NOx is 435 tonnes is released in the city.”
The panel formed which was formed on November 16, 2018, consists of Rashmi Urdhwareshe (ARAI Director), Dr Nitin Labhsetwar (Chief Scientist, CSIR-NEERI), Ramakant Singh (Director, Ministry of Heavy Industries) and Prashant Gargava (Member, secretary of CPCB).
The bench headed by NGT Chairperson Justice Adarsh Kumar Goel is scheduled to meet on January 17 to hear on the matter.
