Agartala: Guwahati High Court has directed the Tripura government to phase out commercial vehicles that are more than 15 years old to check pollution.

The court also told the traffic police to ensure that two-wheeler riders use only those headgears that comply with the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) specifications, reports IANS.

A division bench of the Agartala Bench of the High Court comprising Justices HN Sharma and Hareswar Barua issued the directions in a judgment over a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by environmental and research organisation Association for Research on People And Nature (ARPAN).

"The court asked the state government to take action to phase out the 15-year-old commercial vehicles as they are causing pollution," ARPAN Secretary Biswendu Bhattacharjee said.

The court, however, did not specify any time limit for phasing out the old vehicles, he said.

He said ARPAN had conducted a statewide survey and social audit on traffic mismanagement, pollution and the high rate of carbon emission from old vehicles in 2007. It submitted its report, along with recommendations, to the authorities demanding appropriate actions.

"Since the state government and the pollution control authorities had not taken any action, we filed a PIL in July 2008. The judgment was pronounced on Thursday," Bhattacharjee said.

The court criticised the traffic police for not preventing two-wheeler drivers from wearing unsafe headgears. The bench asked the authorities to ensure that only those headgears that comply with BIS specifications are used by two-wheeler riders, he said.

The court also asked the state government to take measures to check pollution and traffic mismanagement. It suggested setting up of adequate number of emission testing centres and strengthening the public transport system, he said.

Meanwhile, Tripura government officials said they will study the judgment before taking any action.

"In Tripura, 80 per cent of the passenger buses are 15 years old. It is difficult to phase out these old vehicles in a backward state like Tripura. We will study the court directives and then take action," a Transport Department official said.