Initiate Vehicle Emission Testing Via An Air Pollution Case

Geethani Wijesinghe and the Environmental Foundation Limited v. the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Environment Ministry

Environmental Foundation Limited (EFL) filed a case in the Supreme Court regarding the high level of air pollution in the Colombo Metropolitan area. The Court has directed the Central Environmental Authority (CEA) to upgrade and install monitoring machines in Colombo. The Environmental Foundation (EFL) has also requested the Central Environmental Authority to monitor all toxic gases that are being released into the air. As a result of this case, the Central Environmental Authority (CEA) together with the Department of Motor Traffic have begun Vehicle Emission Tests (VET). The proceedings of this case were terminated with the tendering of the draft Regulation of Air Emission, Fuel & Vehicle Importation Standards which was published in Gazette Notification No. 1887/20 dated 05.11.2014 with the corrected Gazette Notification No. 1895/43 dated 02.01.2015.